


Loki On Earth Part II: Striving

by MarvelFic1984



Series: Loki on Earth [2]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Doctor Strange (2016), Loki (Marvel) - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shuri - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-08-05 05:15:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 35,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16361528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarvelFic1984/pseuds/MarvelFic1984
Summary: Wow everybody, thanks for all the hits on Part II of my series!  I went ahead and released part I to non-registered Ao3 users so if you've been enjoying part II, please feel free to read the prequel which is complete, no need to wait for updates!





	1. Welcome to Wakanda

The two waited at the rendezvous point, protected from the blistering African sun by a simple canopy atop four tent posts that had been retrieved from a magic pocket.  It had been ten days this time. Over the last five months, they still had little ability to predict the duration of their missions. In this remote corner of the world they had no reliable communication systems.  They certainly could not use their SHIELD transmitters for this purpose. 

Their solution had been to set up a rendezvous point for each mission.   Thor would fly over at random times every day and only land if they were there.  Convincing Thor of the importance of secrecy was no easy sell. He subscribed to Odin’s belief that there was generally more honor in charging in headlong, swinging a big hammer, hair whipping in the breeze.  

But once they explained to him the agenda: go into places where children are being held and persuade their captors to rebel against their leadership and free the children, all without a shot being fired, he was more supportive.  If not dubious. He had confessed he did not understand Loki’s sudden interest in saving children from captors. 

And he certainly didn’t understand why his human girlfriend would accompany him on stealth missions, first into immigration detention facilities in the United States where she was sure to be recognized, and then into increasingly dangerous camps across the globe as their successes piled up.  Loki had never needed (or wanted) someone to help plan his hijinx, provide support, or, to be honest, even know what he was up to in advance in his entire life, whether he was up to good or evil. Thor certainly did not believe that the woman was there because Loki had accepted her as a moral compass, although he did agree the plan was clearly her idea.  He begrudgingly accepted Loki’s insistence that he would not be without her and could keep her safe.

He could not argue with success.  At facility after facility, within days of their arrival, guards laid down their weapons, released their prisoners, and refused to cooperate with their authority figures.  Loki regaled him with tales of strategic illusions and pranks designed to make those guards who were already uncomfortable with the facility’s operations believe that others were already revolting and feel empowered to take action.  None realized when they were the first to rebel, each believing he was joining something already underway.

Loki was clearly enjoying himself.  Wandering, sabotage, and a lover were just about all he had ever wanted.  The fact that his brother was serving as an assistant instead of in a leading role was just icing on his cake.  His companion seemed less excited and more sobered by the atrocities she had witnessed. Yet time after time, she was the one who urged that they could not stop.  Every time Thor picked them up, she announced their next target.

Loki confided that upon their arrival at the first few facilities, she had vomited.  That took some work to cover up, he boasted. She was doing better now, Loki assured his brother.

This mission, convincing young men drafted into Boko Haram in a remote pocket of Nigeria to release the women and girls they had captured, had taken them much longer.  The culture was foreign to them, the motivations of the men complicated and amorphous, and the fear of reprisal was great. The situation of the girls was precarious. But as they relaxed under their canopy, only twenty miles away, Nigerian and United Nations authorities were providing aid to the young women thanks to the cooperation of those young men, boys really, who had been struck by pangs of conscience they could not explain.

Sitting under their canopy, looking forward to a hot shower and a real bed, they they awaited their transportation.  But they were not greeted by the helicopter whirl of a large hammer and a big brother. Instead, a small and previously invisible ship appeared before them, hovering silently fifteen feet above the ground. Only one place on Earth possessed this technology. And it was nearby.

Wakanda.

A man-sized portal opened up on the underside of the overing ship and a figure dropped to the ground, landing gracefully like a cat.  He wore a skin-tight black suit that showed each ripple and curve of his perfectly formed musculature. But he wore no mask. Everything about this man, from the intensity of his eyes to the confidence of his walk conveyed a single message.  This was a king.

He walked silently and steadily towards the pair who rose from the ground to receive him.  He stopped while still six feet from them, just out of arm’s reach, and looked back and forth between the two.  Loki finally broke the silence.

“Your majesty, I presume?” he said with an appropriately polite nod of his head.  Hearing no response he added “To what do we owe the pleasure.”

“I find you here Loki, god of mischief, wandering my backyard with your human companion.  You and your brother did not do me the courtesy of stopping by my palace to greet me.”

“My apologies my king, I was not aware that I had an invitation.”

“You don’t.  Your brother does.  He fought quite honorably when Wakanda was invaded by Thanos’s army.”  And with no hesitation he added “and New York.”

Loki said nothing in response.  King T’Challa began to pace slowly in front of them, declining to look at them as he continued.  “Which is why I wonder. My intelligence says that he not only came here some days ago but has been patrolling this spot all week.  Imagine my surprise upon learning that his cargo was you. And her.”

“What I imagine is that Thor’s endorsement carries some weight with you.”

“A great deal.  Partially undermined by his failure to discuss with me first why he would be bringing you here.”

Loki thought better of quipping that gods are not beholden to mortal kings and looked forward to a day when he ceased to be a refugee on this planet.  “Can we discuss our business somewhere more pleasant perhaps? My companion and I have been on the road for some time.”

T’Challa motioned towards his ship and ladder was lowered from the opening underneath.  As instructed, after packing away their tent, Loki and the lady took hold of the ladder which was raised back into the ship.  T’Challa nimbly lept up through the opening behind them. The ship was piloted by a fierce woman in red armor with a shaved head and impeccable posture.  

“I have some questions I would like for you to answer before I take you to my kingdom please,” the king stated to his guests.

“I am not so sure your majesty,” his pilot said nervously.  “I cannot put my finger on it but I find myself full of dread.  I do not think it is safe for us to remain here.”

“We are being monitored, there are no threats nearby here lieutenant.  I do not understand your urgency.”

“Call it a soldier’s sense.  I do not wish to remain, we should get home as soon as possible.”

He stopped himself from reprimanding her and instead put his hand reassuringly on her shoulder.  “I trust you. Please proceed.” He turned back to his guests. “Where were we? You know it does not seem too important just now, there will be plenty of time for us to speak tonight.  I should take this time to look over my reports.”

At this moment a young face appeared on his watch. A slender girl who could not have been much more than 20 with bright eyes appeared with a broad grin.  “Big brother you owe me. I was right.”

“Not now Shuri, they can hear you.”

“Did you ask them if they were the ones in America too?”

“I am waiting, I will ask them later.”

She beamed. “The energy fields I have identified surround them both brother.  She is not a human.”

T’Challa glanced over at Loki and the woman who thus far had said nothing and appeared to be looking disinterestedly out the windows at the view.  “Are you sure?”

“Something else.  Her energy field has surged twice since she boarded the ship.  She is using some kind of power, I am sure of this. Please proceed with caution big brother and hurry back.”

“What about him?  He is who I worry about.”

“His energy field has been consistent but I would not rule it out that he is exercising his powers as well.  The field is strong.”

T’Challa picked up a stylus and threw it at the god who caught it and spoke.  “I’m here. I am disguising our appearance for your benefit. We look a bit rough after ten days without access to adequate facilities.”

“I would ask you not to cast spells on my ship.” He said with the authority of someone accustomed to obedience.  Loki’s illusion nodded to indicate he would comply.

The illusion faded.  Both Loki and his companion looked far less glamorous than they had initially represented.  They had pulled their hair back from their faces. Hers was particularly worn looking, clearly unwashed and formless as though it had been pulled back for some days.  Their clothes were filthy. While his clothes, the product of innate Asgardian magic, were perfectly intact, hers were patched. 

She also looked a wreck.  Her eyes looked tired with deep circles surrounding them.  It seemed as though she had been crying. She clearly had not slept well.  This woman sitting before him looked no older overall than the woman whose photographs he had seen in the reading Shuri had given him.  If anything, she looked fitter, healthier, more robust. But her eyes had changed. There was an innocence that had been lost. 

The king suspected that Shuri’s hypothesis was correct.  This pair had been infiltrating some of the worst places in the world and convincing the perpetrators of crimes against humanity to cease, somehow.  Upon seeing her he felt more sympathetic. He went and sat beside her as he switched hats from the sovereign providing leadership and authority to the king who offered sympathy and comfort.  “Shuri believes you have been traveling the world secretly stopping atrocities. Is she right?”

Before the woman could respond, Shuri’s voice emerged.  “T’Challa, Loki was casting a spell but I think his magic stopped but I just got another energy surge from her.  What is going on?” 

He looked back over at the woman he had been preparing to comfort.  Her eyes had gone from wary to shifty as though she had been caught at something.  His sympathy faded. His tenor shifted back as the king’s kind ear gave way to the king’s watchful eye.

Loki interjected. “King T’Challa, you do not operate under the authority of SHIELD?”

T’Challa laughed.  “I operate under the authority of no one.”

Loki nodded.  “This we share.” He turned to his girlfriend.  “Darling I think with these people we will have to be truthful.”

She nodded her assent. “Your sister is right.  We have spent the last few months inspiring internal rebellions in places of high conflict.  Including in America which is why we did not tell SHIELD.”

The king looked at her. “And tell me, writer.  What has been your role in all of this?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow everybody, thanks for all the hits on Part II of my series! I went ahead and released part I to non-registered Ao3 users so if you've been enjoying part II, please feel free to read the prequel which is complete, no need to wait for updates!


	2. A Royal Greeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As pleased as they are to have powerful allies in the fight against local terrorists, the nobility of Wakanda are as leery as they are curious of their Asgardian guests. Their guests are too busy being enamored with their new surroundings to be bothered by it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all like Wakanda because we are going to stay here awhile.

She was in no state to greet a princess.  Although she required far less sleep since Loki had begun dosing her with the Asgardian magic that may make her a goddess, it had been an exhausting few weeks.  Months really. At first when she had formed her plan to foment internal noncompliance by American agents staffing ICE detention facilities, she was primarily acting out of a sense of duty.  She could not stand by while her country committed atrocities if she had any power to stop them.

Traveling to the facility to implement their plans had been more harrowing than she had predicted.  Reports from volunteer lawyers and social workers had flooded her social media when she checked in to do her research.  Anyone working in these facilities for more than a few days required intense psychological counselling afterwards, plus a few stiff drinks.  And these people could only hear children’s cries, not their innermost feelings. 

But after the first success, when they sat invisibly observing a clandestine meeting among those guards they had urged to revolt.  She was hooked. It was not just the moral victory of helping children reunite with their parents. Making those guards most uncomfortable with their tasks feel guilt followed by resolve and courage to defy orders and reunite families.  When she was honest with herself, she acknowledged it was also the raw exercise of her powers. The more she used her abilities, the stronger she felt.

It was intoxicating.

The princess who was scurrying towards her was not entirely what she expected.  Somehow movies had taught her to think a princess was someone who approached any situation with disinterested serenity and grace and the poise of her big brother T’Challa had only reinforced that image of royalty.  The energetic young wisp of a girl came bounding up to her with the irreverence of someone almost constitutionally incapable of taking things too seriously and bright eyes reflecting startling intelligence. She had heard somewhere that this particular princess was a science prodigy.  The young princess exuded a single primary emotion. Smug.

Shuri strode over and began to examine her guest close up. Like a specimen.  “You are well documented as a human. I have retrieved your birth certificate, your school records, and read your book, and I am confident you are not an alien like your boyfriend.  Why do you have an Asgardian energy field surrounding you?”

“When did you do all of that?”

“While you were flying here from Nigeria.  The energy field?”

“Okay.  Well, um.  The Asgardian gods draw energy from the Valhalla godplane.”  She looked over at Shuri who was listening intently. “Loki has been doing magic to connect me to that plane.”  Shuri looked on, a small wave of disappointment coming over her.

“Yes, I figured that part out.  How? Is it quantum energy, is wave or particle based energy, what causes the field to stabilize, is there a physical process creating the connection?”  Shuri continued to look expectantly.

“Um, I think he uses Thor’s blood for something.  Beyond that I have no idea.”

Shuri smiled at her the way one smiles at a child who is saying things like “choo choo go in his house” when a train enters a tunnel.  “Of course. Well, I look forward to discovering more about how the magic…” She was interrupted.

“I’m afraid a magician never reveals his secrets,” Loki came up and took gentle hold of his girlfriend’s elbow to usher her forward into the palace.  He had cut short his niceties with the king as he sensed their hostess begin to pry. They did not make it very far before being confronted by more royalty.  

Just as the man they had met at the rendezvous point was unmistakably a king, two women who stood before them now were undeniably queens.  One did not need to be the god of perception to size up that the elder, although she wore her age well, was the queen mother and the younger the wife. King T’Challa stepped forward to make introductions.  “May I present my mother Ramonda and my wife Nakia.”

Loki had met many queens in his life.  There was no universal way to greet the wife or mother of a king.  Some would offer forward the backs of their hands to be kissed. Others were aloof and entirely off limits; even to gaze too long on some queens was a punishable offense.  Still others were immediately intimate, offering an embrace and a kiss on the cheek. As he had learned in his youth, often the hard way, application of his perceptive abilities was essential to these first greetings.  

He surmised from these women that the proper way to convey respect in Wakanda was to show strength and dignity.  Stand straight and make direct eye contact. “Your highnesses, we are honored to be received by you.” His greeting was received with a nod from Queen Ramonda which he took as a sign he had gotten it right, or at least close enough.

Given how tremendously glamorous the queen mother looked in her formal court attire, he had concerns about the disheveled appearance of his companion.  But the queen herself he thought may be more impressed. As formal as she appeared and as beautiful as she was, she carried herself as a soldier or a spy.  Sure enough, she stepped forward and spoke.

“My operatives have spent months attempting to infiltrate the Boko Haram to alleviate the situation.  I am told that you just completed an operation in ten days that ended in a revolt. Which they are now doing their best to build on, by the way.”  She looked back and forth between the pair.

“Our apologies, we were not trying to interfere in your operation.”

She laughed.  “Apologies? I want to know how you did it.  I have had plenty of successes, I do not get jealous.  I care about results and you may have gotten some.”

Before Loki had the chance to answer his companion spoke up.  “Please yes. I would like to discuss this with you. We actually encountered some difficulties on this mission and I would like to exchange intelligence.”

“Difficulties?  You expected to start a revolt faster than ten days?”

“Magic speeds things along.  But that doesn’t mean we knew what we were doing.  We started with a smaller camp for a reason. There’s more out there.”

“Yes, and now word may spread of its fall.  The others may lock down. Still if you have a recipe for success,”

“We may.  But we will do better if we cooperate.”

“I look forward to a mutual debriefing,” Nakia said eagerly, “but it can wait.  I take it you are weary from your travels. Someone will escort you to your quarters.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Now this is more like it,” Loki said, looking around their guest quarters once their escorts had left.  The instant the door closed he dropped his dignified prince routine and his inner schoolboy took over completely.  He skipped across the room to the luxurious guest bed and somersaulted onto it. “Do you know how long it has been since I have slept in a palace?”

Palace it was.  The pair had been escorted through the elaborately decorated corridors with high vaulted ceilings, a mix of ancient and beautiful African art and technology more modern than she had ever imagined possible, tastefully combined into a seamless tapestry of elegant design.  The atmosphere was equal parts welcoming and imposing, a complex tension to maintain but one befitting the king of the most advanced culture on Earth. 

Loki had admired and complimented the decor with appropriately subdued manner required by his nobility, but she felt the excitement in his heart.  Had he known this place was here, she suspected he would have tried to wrangle himself an invitation long ago. He seemed to stand an inch taller as he strode the spacious and refined hallways of Wakanda’s core residence.  As the door had opened to reveal what was to be their chamber during their visit, he had barely maintained his composure.

Although it was the finest room she had ever been in, she suspected finer were available as she had gathered from their tour that this room was at the opposite end of the palace from the family chambers.  She declined to mention the intense unease she detected every time he asked a question about the layout of the palace during their tour, although she suspected he was aware.

She looked over and Loki was lying on his back with his head upside-down over the edge of the bed, playfully extending both arms in her direction.  “Come darling, I will make tender love to you on this bed in a manner befitting a prince’s consort.” He squeezed his hands in an attempt to beckon her closer.

“A consort now?  That’s a promotion for me I think.”

“Well, you’re in a palace now, I thought it was time.”  She had gotten used to his sudden shifts between courtly and playful and at this point found them more endearing than jarring.

“You realize this is not only not your palace but your presence here is barely tolerated?  King T’Challa doesn’t trust you. Nor should he,” she added.

He rolled over and looked up at her.  “I know, isn’t it perfect? Being a begrudgingly tolerated palace guest is my specialty.  Best way to ensure I am not to be bothered but will still be fed. My continued loneliness grows vexing, why do you remain over there?”

“Because I’m way too disgusting for that fancy bed and I’m headed off to what is bound to be the most luxurious shower I have ever experienced.”

He sighed and stood up to follow her.  “If you insist.”


	3. Thor Returns to Wakanda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our couple almost forgets that Thor had been flying over the rendezvous point and would likely be brought to the palace not long after they. When he arrives, having just been told some of their deepest secrets by the Wakandan royalty who greeted him, he is less than pleased.

“LOKI!” came a familiar booming voice half the palace away.  Loki and his consort had not emerged from their chambers since their arrival but were at that moment making final preparations to explore the palace seeking dinner.  She was struck with a horrible thought.

“Did you remember to tell them Thor doesn’t know about my powers?”

He looked over at her with alarm. “Shit,” he said, which really captured everything else they had to say to each other in that moment.  A rap came at the door. Thor had been moving quickly.

“Loki, open this door or I will break it.”

“You most certainly will not break it, although I might like to see you try” came the voice of T’Challa, “And I ask you to keep your family squabbles quiet in my palace.”

Thor’s voice was calmer but still insistent. “Loki, you and I have something to discuss.”

T’Challa chimed in. “I am afraid you will not be sneaking out of here as Shuri knows how to track your energy field.  The illusion you are erecting will do you no good. Please be cooperative while you are my guests. You will not start a fight in my house, will you Thor.”

“Of course not T’Challa.  I will drag him into the yard and we shall fight there.”  There was a pause during which she sensed Thor met a look of intense disapproval.  “No, of course I won’t start a fight on Wakandan soil, you have my word.”

Loki was not convinced and turned to his beloved. “How angry is he exactly?”

“Maybe there is something about the vibranium in the walls interfering with my powers because it does not make sense.”

“What doesn’t make sense?”

“He is angry, but not as angry as he is making out.  He’s amused about something. He is enjoying himself.  I….I think he’s bluffing.”

Loki looked at her incredulously.  “My brother bluff? Perhaps Shuri is dampening your powers.”  He snapped his fingers to create an image of sparks coming from his hand.  The magic worked perfectly. He shrugged his shoulders and prepared, as he had many times before, to face the music once the jig was up on one of his schemes.  As he walked out, Thor grabbed his collar and threw him against the wall, holding him with his toes barely touching the ground.

“You promised T’Challa you would not start a fight.”

“I’m not, this is us talking.  So you meet T’Challa one time and you tell him, within an hour, that you have stolen my blood to turn your new favorite pet into a goddess using the power of Valhalla, but you had not thought to tell me first?”  She thought about chiming in that she was not a pet but thought better of interrupting.

“Not voluntarily, his sister has equipment that,”

“Loki!”

“Okay, yes, I did.  But I didn’t exactly plan to, they picked us up and then here I was a humble guest in this grand palace, and I was going to tell you eventually.”

“You lied to me, twice, about why you were stabbing me and stealing the blood from my veins.”

“Only twice?”

“Loki do you know what the worst part of this is?”  Loki winced as a little brother will when confronted.  “I have known for weeks.” He released Loki started to laugh.

Loki opened his eyes and adjusted his clothes having been released from his brother’s iron grip and looked at him in disbelief.  “You knew?”

“Of course I knew you moron. You would never make a healing potion for humans.  And you would never take a helpless lover along to commit a dangerous crime.”

“Sure but how did you figure out…”

“The first time I dropped you off for a mission and realized you actually were doing what you said you would do, I returned home to Norway and entered the Odinsleep as you told me I could.  Father told me everything.” He looked over at the lady. “He approves, he likes you and he noted that the pantheon is a bit thinned out after Ragnarok. Keep up the good work.” Thor extended a thumbs up.

“Swell,” she said. 

“I confess envy Thor.  I have not managed a spirit journey to visit my father since my coronation. You are able to visit the spirit world at your leisure?” T’Challa inquired.

“Not quite, and I cannot stay long, but I can seek his counsel on matters of great import.  My brother using my blood to anoint a goddess without my permission was such a matter.” Thor explained as though he was giving T’Challa his family recipe for beef stew.  They were looking at Loki as they talked, rather than at each other. Loki was shifting nervously and rubbing his hands together.

“Am I to be forgiven then?” He finally asked.

Thor came over and gently put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.  “I do have one question for you Loki.” Loki looked up at him, one of few men on this planet tall enough for that to be necessary.  “Why did you think you needed my blood?”

Loki looked at him confused.  “Mother did not leave me any other instructions than that she distilled the essence of Valhalla from her own blood, but she is not here as you know.”

Thor shook his head.  “Loki, you are no less god than me despite not having been born one.  Did you even attempt to use your own essence for this spell?”

Loki cast his face downward and closed his eyes.  “Mine?”

“All the arrogance, telling Thanos to his face that he is not a god, and you don’t truly believe yourself one after all this time?”

For once in his life Loki was flustered and found himself without words to respond.  Thor’s next action was quick. He brought the razor he had hidden in his hand down across Loki’s shoulder, cutting through a vulnerable point in his leather armor and drawing blood.

“Hey!  I like this jacket.” Loki said in frustration, looking at his already healing wound. Although truth be told he could heal the jacket just as easily. Thor pulled a vial from out of his breastplate and grabbed the loose drops.  It was not sanitary. He handed it to his brother. 

“The same magic flows in both our veins.  You will see. Go do the spell after dinner.”  Loki continued to look skeptical.

“Please try it instead of stabbing me again?”

“You just stabbed me so you owe me one,” Loki retorted.  

Thor laughed again. “Loki if we are keeping count of who has stabbed whom…”

Loki waved his hand.  “Forget I said anything.” He sighed and looked at the small vial in his hands.  “I know I conceal it well but your faith in me has always meant the world to me brother.”

Thor embraced him.  “Not that well,” he said smugly, as he turned and walked towards the palace’s dining hall.

“Pretty well,” Loki called after him as he turned to follow, almost forgetting to escort his bewildered companion.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Following breakfast the next morning, Thor insisted as usual that anyone sufficiently hardy join him for light exercises, which to him meant several hours of intense combat drills and feats of superhuman strength.  Available to him on this occasion were both T’Challa and his brother so he was ecstatic. 

Certain of defeat but curious to see how long he could hold out, T’Challa acquiesced and led the brothers to his yard to show off his training equipment.  As they passed the threshold, as usual the brothers willed their training gear into existence. T’Challa, on the other hand, removed his shirt to spar bare chested.  Seeing this and assuming it was local custom, which it was, Thor did the same. Loki, shockingly modest in public despite his long history of general promiscuity and prolific showmanship, declined to go shirtless but did change to a (black leather, as always) top without sleeves.

This may go without saying, but it did not take long for a crowd of almost all female spectators to gather.

The royal training yard boasted a variety of handheld sparring weapons used by the Dora Milaje.  The men toyed with these for a while and admired their balance and finesse but ultimately settled on weaponless combat.  What T’Challa lacked in strength compared to his Asgardian companions he nearly made up in nimble dexterity which allowed him to land far more blows than he had expected on Thor.  The fights between the Black Panther and Loki were entertaining at first but quickly grew a bit dull because neither could strike the other. One had to be a great appreciator of an entirely defensive match to enjoy that spectacle for long.

Most of the appreciators available preferred to watch shirtless Thor and T’Challa throw each other off balance, a preference which they increasingly obliged as they tagged out less and less often until Loki, not entirely unwillingly, shrank into the background.  Once he felt sufficiently off the hook, he beckoned to his girlfriend who had broken off from the assembled crowd to join him and picked up a small rod about the size of his dagger.

“While we are here, let me try again to teach you some basic melee combat tactics.”

“Loki, you know I don’t care to fight.”

He shook his head.  “You cannot assume I will always be able to protect you.  Can you at least indulge me and practice how to dodge a blow?”

She sighed and nodded, positioning her feet in the stance he had shown her during one of their previously unsuccessful combat training lessons.  He came forward with the rod and tapped her waist. “You didn’t even try,” he said disappointed.

“Sorry, do it again.”  He came forward and tapped her ribcage on the other side.  She had not even budged.

“If you’re not going to take this seriously.”

“I am.  It’s just been awhile.”

He sighed again and came around to stand behind her with his hands on her waist.  “Practice shifting your weight from foot to foot.” He tilted her a few times while saying to her “left, right, left” to help her get the feel of being nimble and ready to avoid an attack.  

It turned out, the pair practicing in this way was adorable, and some of the assembled crowd wandered away from their king fighting a god to witness the couple.  Most found it precious and giggled to each other behind their hands, but the head of the Dora Milaje was less amused.

“Huh.” Came a loud and incredulous voice.  The couple paused and turned to see a woman they had not yet met with a fiery expression and a bald head.  One syllable from her and the assembled crowd parted as the sea to Moses. She stepped forward, removing a staff with a padded end from the rack as she passed it.  Okoye declined to introduce herself, not that it was necessary that she do so to make her purpose clear.

“You, skinny alien, take this helpless whip of a human girl with you into the most dangerous parts of America, Africa, South America, the Philippines, and wherever else you two have been, entirely defenseless with no skills for fighting.  And here you are, in my training yard, flirting uselessly when you should be preparing for your next mission to the Boko Haram. Why do we host you if you will not take it seriously? This is not how you show gratitude for the use of my space and my training weapons.”

Loki stepped back with his hands up.  “I apologize if we appeared irreverent, but I want to assure you she is far from defenseless.”

“Ha!  We shall see.”  She beckoned with the spear for Loki to stand aside.  He obliged, looking amused.

“Let’s see how you do against someone who will really hit you.” She said, thrusting the spear forward.  Naturally, she was posturing for the novice and was preparing to land glancing blows off her shoulders with the heavily padded staff end.  Okoye had trained many a new warrior in her time, although usually the Dora Milaje were selected and began their training quite young. Okoye was anticipating treating this woman, who may have been a year or two her senior, as she would a pre-pubescent recruit.

The act was too convincing and the empath was fooled.  Okoye’s annoyance and desire to teach her a lesson were genuine.  She sensed in the general a measured ferocity that was to be always feared and respected.  

“Come on, come on, stay on your toes girl,” Okoye barked with the expertise of a practiced drill sergeant as she thrust the spear forward menacingly.  Loki crossed his bare arms and leaned back against the wall of the yard with an amused look on his face. At this point, Thor and T’Challa had called a temporary truce and wandered over themselves such that now the entire gathered crowd was observing in amusement.

The would-be goddess promptly crumpled to the ground in a little ball, covering her face.

But unexpectedly, Okoye let out a shriek at an octave no one had ever heard from her, threw her spear to the ground, and sprinted to the other end of the yard where she cowered behind a rack of weighted balls.  T’Challa ran to her side and found her still screaming.

“Okoye are you hurt, what on Earth is the matter?”

Okoye raised a shaking hand and pointed a finger at the curled up ball of a woman before her and shrieked “She, she,” but began immediately to calm down.  After a few moments she caught her breath and began to laugh heartily. She shook off T’Challa’s offer of assistance as she rose to her feet and dusted herself off, still laughing.

She returned and looked at a smug Loki.  “I see your point. She is not defenseless after all is she.  It’s all right, we are done for now, but you should do as he says and at least learn to avoid a blow.”  The empath looked up from her hands at Okoye’s extended arm and accepted the assistance in standing back up.  “What if you fight an army of feelingless robots?” the general added. Loki, having previously done that, nodded in agreement, as did Thor and T’Challa.

“General what did I just witness?”

Okoye looked at her king.  “My king, her defense was to fill me with uncontrollable fear.  I felt as much terror just now as I felt when I watched you disintegrate before me.  It was,” and she turned and looked back at the nervous woman before her, “effective. But if that is your response whenever someone tries to help you, I can see why your training is getting you nowhere.”  

“I can run too.” The empath finally spoke in her defense.

That drew a laugh from the entire crowd.  “I’m sure you can and that is for the best.  But you cannot run if someone breaks your leg.  Please, we will not ridicule you any longer, do try to make use of this space to learn something? Hmm?”  The general picked back up her real weapon and walked off behind the king as he retired to bathe and tend his wounds.  Thor looked at Loki and nodded his head towards the rack of untested sparring weapons.

As he walked away to rejoin his brother, following an approving hand wave from his girlfriend, she decided to pursue her preferred exercise to clear her head.  After some inquiries she was given the best path to run around the city. Here behind the barriers of secrecy and in a place of complete safety, with no SHIELD agent to tail her, she let go entirely and ran as fast as she wished, at last.  Had she been wearing her GPS, she would have realized she could do many miles at a pace faster than three and a half minutes. Well under the human world record for a single mile, let alone a dozen.

Shuri, who was tracking her on the scanner, was excited to tell her over lunch.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	4. A Collaboration Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and his girlfriend agree to work together with the operatives of Wakanda and begin to plan out their joint missions while Shuri uncovers some interesting details.

“So you employ a simple three-step process is what I am hearing.  Make them feel guilty, convince them others are already in revolt, and then fill them with resolve to join?” Nakia said, looking at the screens that surrounded them.  The screens showed schematics of the camps, as well as photographs of the arrested perpetrators, pardoned cooperators, and liberated captives.

“Well, when you put it that way.  Yeah, pretty simple I guess.”

“The main issue we have had with these pockets is the camaraderie they foster in the recruits.  Alienated young boys susceptible to indoctrination come to believe their fellow terrorists are their family now.  If you want these revolts to last, you need to replace that with a new camaraderie they feel for their fellow rebels.  Can you do that?”

She thought for a moment.  “I think camaraderie is an emotion.  I can try it out. Is that what your agents were doing?”

Nakia turned and looked at her.  “I plan to work with you but that does not extend to exposing the identities of my agents.  You’ll understand.”

“They’re good.  I did not realize at the time but it makes sense.  There were some individuals, maybe three, who were the most uncomfortable with what was happening and who I think were deceiving the others.  I did not have to encourage their guilt.”

Nakia looked nervous.  “Did you manipulate them then?”

“I strengthened their resolve with the others.  I’m pretty sure they were at the core of the revolt once it finally broke out?  I’m sorry, I had no idea.”

“Yes, they are continuing what you helped start.”

“I think the credit should go to your agents for starting it, I just sped it along.”

“It should.  But we will accept your aid.  My agents were never able to influence as many boys at once without the aid of empathic magic.”

“And you will announce that it was you and your agents who fomented the revolts when we are finished?”

Nakia shook her head.  “I wish we could let them know that Wakanda watches over them as best we can.  But the world is not ready. If they find out they were manipulated, it could all fall apart.”  She came over and put her hands on the American’s shoulders. “A lesson I think you should remember, if you are to be a demigod meddling in the affairs of humans, like my husband is.  They must believe that where you led them they journeyed on their own.”

She sat down and looked away uncomfortably.  “That’s a bit much to think about your highness.  You are more used to power than I. Remember until a few months ago I wrote books for a living.  From a sofa. Demigod is a strong word.”

The queen stepped back and looked the woman before her up and down.  “You get used to being powerful after a time. And you start to think no one else can help but you.  And then,” she gently took hold of the woman’s chin and tilted her face up, “you meet someone else who is helping too and remember you are only one of many.  The world needs people like us, but we are not alone. We work together.”

The empath took the queen’s hands and squeezed them as a gesture to thank her for her strength and courage before excusing herself.  Nakia went back to her screens, working on incorporating the anticipated assistance into her strategies. As the American walked away she thought about the implications of power and how Queen Nakia was right that one grows accustomed.  For now she was using her powers to help. Would that always be the case?

Coming towards her she saw princess Shuri holding a tablet and going over her notes.

“I have learned more about the energy field that surrounds you, Loki and Thor.  Unfortunately it is clear that I do not have the capacity to replicate it myself, but I did have a question to ask you.”

“I think you know just how useful my answer will be but ask away.”

“Why does the energy field grow when you and Loki touch?”  Shuri asked.

A confused look crossed her face.  “What do you mean?”

“Your energy fields are fairly constant with small surges if you apply your abilities.  There is no change when you or Loki touch Thor. But when you touch each other,” Shuri looked up at her, “your fields become a single energy field that then expands around you and intensifies.  Why does that happen?”

She was at a loss for words.  In order to explain to the inquisitive young prodigy why something was happening she would have had to have been aware of it.  Until a few days ago she had not even known she had an energy field, let alone one that could grow.

“Um,” she trailed off.

“What do you use your powers on him for?”

“What do you mean?”

“When he is near, you are using your powers almost constantly, whether or not you are touching.  What are you doing? Do you have to make him love you as he does?”

At this she laughed.  “No. When he feels love he feels it to his core.  If anything I should make him love me less, he does not handle loss very well, and something could happen to me.”

“So what are you doing then?”

The empath looked around to verify that no one was listening.  “It’s not easy to convince him he is loved back.”

“You do love him back though.”

“Tell him that.”

“Doesn’t he know?”

“I think so.  He’s one of the most perceptive beings in the universe.  Knowing and feeling are two different things.”

Shuri looked at her somewhat astonished. “You have to use your powers around the clock for him to feel he is loved by you, an inseparable companion who has barely left his side in months?”  The silence of the response said it all. “Do you think it will always be this way? He needs magic assistance to believe he is loved? Perhaps over time, he may...”

“Well,” the author was again uncomfortable with the significance of the conversation.  “As your research seems to indicate, maybe the forces of Valhalla want us together. This may be the only way.  To keep him from turning to chaos and mayhem again. An empath to smooth over his edges.”

“You make him feel secure and cherished.  For the good of humanity or because you love him?”

She smiled as she looked out the window where her constant companion was engaged in entertaining the two kings by regaling them with stories of his travels and deeds, some of which were even true.  “These aren’t mutually exclusive.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He had stolen away from the palace under cover of night and surrounded himself with a cloak of magical darkness.  Pulling out the vial of his own blood he had received from Thor, he began the incantations and conjurations he had done before to create his elixir. 

Just as Thor had promised.  It worked just as well. He was glad no one could see his tears of joy at confirmation that he was of Valhalla and Asgard just as he had always believed growing up, even if his path there was unorthodox.  Was there any other kind for him, after all? What did it matter how he was born? It didn’t. Ever since then he had made his own way.

Except that his belief that no one saw him weep was wrong.  And his watcher was much further away than the curious princess who had lost him on her scanners.


	5. Nick Furious

Collaborating with Wakanda proved invaluable.  With plans masterminded by Nakia, the assistance of her undercover agents, and transportation and logistics from Okoye and Shuri, the team swiftly orchestrated insurrection at more than half of the Boko Haram locations.  The group was left fragmented, in doubt, and eventually easily overrun by Nigerian authorities. Nakia had the good sense not to impose instructions on Loki who had never been much of a team player. His line item on every plan draft was simply to “sew mayhem.”  Needless to say, he was having the time of his life.

Not being accustomed to wielding power, the empath was ecstatic to benefit from the wisdom and guidance of someone who was.  Other than the “guidance” of her mischievous boyfriend that is, who was so accustomed to power that he had no concept of what it was like to lack it.  Although the inaugural attempt to use her powers for greater purposes had gone shockingly well, replacing the thrill of uncertainty with the comfort of some structure and the approval of a sovereign nation came as a relief.  

But at some point, she knew people would come to notice their signature pattern and grow suspicious that other forces were at work besides a sudden wave of pangs of conscience.  The fall of a few camps of Boko Haram had gone largely unnoticed by Western powers who paid little attention to the troubles plaguing Africa, but the fall of the entire organization was a major world headline.  Fortunately the Nigerian government was eager to take full credit.

Not everyone was willing to accept their explanation.

As they boarded the small hovering jet to depart their final mission, the king’s face appeared on the screen before them.  “I first wish to congratulate you on this success, I am told by my wife that at long last the fight against Boko Haram is at its end.  This has been a most rewarding collaboration for Wakanda.”

“Us too your highness, we look forward to seeing you again soon.”

“I am afraid there is to be some delay prior to your return.” He paused and looked uncomfortable.

“King T’Challa?” Loki inquired.

“I am no longer able to deny the demands of SHIELD that you be transported for an interview.  Loki is under their official protection at the direction of the world counsel, and you,” he turned to the woman, “are an American citizen.  I cannot continue to deny their authority over you both.”

“We are being extradited on what charge exactly?” Loki put his hands on his hips in frustration.

“No no, not extradited.  There is no charge. You have not been accused of breaking parole.”

“Well I’m not on parole and she never has been.”

“Of course not.  But I understand there are conditions of your pardon and I cannot deny a foreign sovereign request for their citizen to be returned to them.”

“You didn’t kidnap me, I’m a free person.  And my agent is keeping up with my taxes,” she chimed in.  “I am not in your custody. I’m just on your plane.”

“Are we under arrest?  What if we were to just leap from this plane?”  Loki looked around at the hatch as there was not a window in their passenger section.

“I would not recommend that as you are already over the middle of the Atlantic ocean.  I am sorry, this demand comes from the highest authority, my hands are tied.”

She looked at him with greater skepticism.  “The president?”

He shook his head.  “No. Higher.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick Fury was waiting for them at the landing pad in New York just outside the city with a small cadre of agents.  “You slipped your tails.”

Loki said nothing but stuck out his hands and made a face that said “who do you think I am?”

Nick was not amused.  “Imagine my curiosity upon learning that shortly thereafter, Thor was repeatedly spotted traveling to Africa and slipping off our radars near Wakanda.”

The couple remained deliberately expressionless although Loki inwardly cursed his brother’s carelessness.  If Loki’s special talent was losing his trackers, Thor’s special talent was attracting them. Few things in nature are less stealthy than a thunderclap.  Not for the first time, Loki wished he had stolen his mother’s flying plumage dress as he was fleeing Asgard instead of the Tesseract. Slower and clumsier for interstellar travel, but less attractive to bandits.  And titans. Thanos would never have murdered everyone to get a plumage dress. And it was fashionable. He cursed his own greedy little fingers. With the dress, he wouldn’t have needed Thor’s hammer as transportation.

“And then I find the local sovereign reluctant to turn you over to me.  Queen Ramonda, Queen Nakia, Princess Shuri, General Okoye, and especially King T’Challa put me off time and time again when I inquired, nicely, whether you were their guests.”

Still silence.  

“You going to tell me what you’ve been up to?” Nick was not accustomed to non-compliance and did not appreciate it from his former nemesis in particular.  “Do you not answer questions from ants? Or should I remind you, boot, that you’re my personal ward?”

“I’m not your personal ward, I’m a SHIELD ward.”

“Oh look, it speaks.  Please tell me why you disappeared for six months and did not check in or confirm the safety of this human who’s been in your care.”

At this he laughed.  “In my care? I can assure you she gets on quite well without me. And we disappeared because we don’t like being followed, do you?”

“I’m not an interplanetary criminal whose presence on this planet is currently tolerated during time of good behavior.”

“What better option do you mean auntie?”

“What did you just call me?” Nick took a step closer.

“Seems friendlier than ant.”

Nick glared.  “If I thought we had a cell that would hold you.”

“For what?  I’ve been pardoned.”

“For your previous crimes.  What have you been up to for the last six months?”

“I’m afraid that’s classified.”

“By whom?”

“Wakandan intelligence.  Sorry, I would love to boast of my activities, they have been great I assure you, but my hands are tied.  Not literally.” Loki held up his presently unchained hands to indicate they were tied only figuratively.

Nick sighed and shook his head.  “That is consistent with what Wakanda has represented to me.  And I don’t think you’re controlling those people.”

Loki acted taken aback.  “As far as I’m aware the mind stone is safely in the possession of hammer-worthy Vision.  You can rest easy.”

“Rest easy.  Two words not in my vocabulary.  Please come with me.”

She spoke up.  “Where are we going?”

Nick did not turn around to look at her.  “The Avengers have some questions for you.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Following the defeat of Thanos, most of the Avengers were on mandatory extended respite.  Thor did not recognize the authority of SHIELD over his mental and physical health and only acquiesced to their recommendations as it pleased him.  T’Challa obviously had a country to run and had declined care in America. Wakandan facilities were superior at any rate. 

The only Avengers present were those who had accepted the offer to reside at the compound during their respite period, and Tony Stark who wouldn’t have missed it.  Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff were front and center and fully engaged. The idea of resting was foreign to them both so they were pleased to have something to do.  Sam and Bucky sat a row back from their buddy Steve, as usual paying more attention to each other than the proceedings. Bruce had agreed to come to the meeting and was focused mostly on staying calm.  Hawkeye was notably absent. Some wrongs, even if forgiven, are difficult to forget.

Tony paced in the back of the room as was his nervous habit.  He had seen Loki a few times since his amnesty was granted. Just as with his friend Wanda, he was surprisingly adept at overlooking crimes of the past, even those that had left a lasting impact on his psyche.  His mistrust of Loki was largely based in rationality. He had done a great deal of reading on Norse mythology since the attack on New York and knew better than to take Loki’s representations at face value.

And just like that, the human found herself sitting in a room full of the Avengers, staring at her.  She had met them once before, at a party in Chicago the first week she was dating Loki. She chuckled to herself at the way she had dressed down capitalist Stark who had ultimately offered her a consultant gig in labor relations.  She wondered if that offer remained open. And she had made Steve Rogers feel uncomfortable about the nature of her relationship with Loki. Making him uncomfortable was so easy. She thought she might like to get to know Natasha better, but suspected that was not something a person generally got to do.

Nick stood in a corner of the room with his arms crossed, a piece of paper in his right hand.

He looked down at the paper.  “Appreciation for their assistance dismantling the Boko Haram.”  He looked up at them expectantly. “That’s it. That’s all this communique from Wakanda says.”

Loki looked around.  “Seems pretty self explanatory.  Are we all going to get lunch here in this room or…”

Nick responded.  “How is this self explanatory?  This is in no way self explanatory.  Why was she involved? What assistance?  This is one sentence describing, apparently, the last six months.”

“Look, if Wakanda is not willing to share more details than that, I fail to see how it would be in my power to disclose anything further.” Loki said.

“Since when do you recognize the ‘authority’ of anyone on Earth, Loki?  When has ‘authority’ stopped you from telling a story about yourself?” Stark made quotation fingers each time he said “authority.”

“Since the good people of Earth asked me to be on my best behavior in exchange for asylum.”  Loki closed his eyes and put his hand on his chest to indicate his sincerity in the statement.  This gesture inspired raucous laughter. He was not believed, but at least the tension in the room was broken.

“Hypothetically,” the empath spoke up, “you can convince people that a rebellion is already underway with a few strategic acts of sabotage.  It is much easier to convince someone to join an incipient uprising than to start one.”

Nick leaned away from the wall and looked at her.  “Now we are getting somewhere. Did the good people of Wakanda approach you to ask you to apply your skills at sabotage or did you offer?”

Loki took back over.  “I would say any collaboration we had was formed organically.  Look, I fail to see why we are being interrogated when the king of Wakanda is not only vouching us but expressing his appreciation for our assistance in dismantling terror cells.  You’re welcome, by the way.” Loki did his best to act affronted, although in reality he was enjoying the attention.

Nick sighed.  “Actually I do feel reassured.  And even a little grateful.”

Steve chimed in.  “I can’t believe I’m saying this but I actually feel the same way Nick.  T’Challa’s word carries a lot of weight with me and if he is maintaining secrecy I assume he has his reasons.”  The others in the room murmured to indicate they felt likewise.

Loki rose.  “Excellent. If it is all the same to you, as much as I have enjoyed our reunion, I am eager to return to Wakanda where I understand my brother awaits us.”  In this he was genuine. He longed to resume his status as tolerated palace guest.

Nick looked around the room at its occupants who nodded that they were satisfied.  “Just let me talk to her without you for a minute Loki.” Loki moved to object but she waved him off and walked into the hallway with Nick.

Nick spoke in hushed tones behind his hand.  “I never really lost track of you but I wanted to hear the story straight from your mouth.  I know you did the same thing in America at ICE.” Her eyes grew wide. “I didn’t say anything to the American government.  I couldn’t support your mission publicly but I didn’t have to interfere. But here’s what I need to know.” 

He turned and looked straight at her with his good eye, his demeanor completely changed.  All of a sudden he seemed less like an angry and stern officer of the law and more like a concerned father.  She realized she had no idea how old he was but suspected it was considerably older than he looked. His eye had seen some things.  “You’re doing all of this willingly? You’re not his captive? You feel safe?”

She smiled.  “I don’t feel safe at all.  You know where we’ve been and why.  But yes, willingly. You didn’t think these missions were his idea, did you?”

He nodded.  “That’s what I suspected.  So he’s behaving himself for your sake?”

She shrugged.  “I guess.”

“If that ever changes, you send me a signal ok?”  He gave her a little communicator like the one Loki had showed her when they first went to travel to Norway.

She smiled up at him as she accepted it.  “Thanks. Nice to meet you by the way.”

He was not a hugger but he offered a friendly tap on the shoulder.  “Same. Keep up the good work. Do you know where you’re headed next?”

“I wouldn’t tell you if I did.”

He laughed.  “Ok, I’ll find out the hard way.”

“I’m sure you will.”  She left to rejoin her companion as they headed back to the jet following their short visit.  

“What’s that?” Loki asked her of her new watch.

“A tracking device for your pocket.”

He admired it.  “This is a nice one.  Should I leave it in Antarctica do you think?  Ooh, or in a cloud over the Amazon?”

“I wouldn’t.  Fury already thinks I’m your hostage.”

“You’re no fun.  You’re my least favorite prisoner.”

“Lies. I’m your favorite prisoner. And I’m lots of fun.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony asked Nick “Are they in the plane?”

Nick shook his head.  “I don’t know, her device has disappeared already.  She’s either in league with him completely or he took it from her.  Still, I feel a lot better after talking to them.” Everyone nodded except Natasha.

“None of you find that suspicious?”

“Find what suspicious?”

“All of us had the exact same thought at the exact same time?  Reassured and a little bit grateful? We never feel the same way about anything.”

Tony thought for a second.  “She has a point. Plus I never feel reassured.  Why do I feel so reassured?” 

Nick shook his head.  He called Thor’s communicator.

“Nick! To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing your face on this device.”

“We just enjoyed a visit with your brother.”

“Really?  No one has ever said that before.”

“Fair point, we just had a visit with your brother.  No one enjoyed it.”

“That’s more like it.  For what purpose?”

“Very revealing.  We had empathic powers used on us.”

“Oh?  They told you about that did they?”

“They told us some, how long has he had those?”

“He?  You mean she?  He would need empathy before he could be an empath.”

Steve raised a single eyebrow and looked up.  “She?”

“Of course, she’s...wait.  So they didn’t tell you?”

Tony replied “They did, we just want to know what you know.”

Thor looked around.  “Shit.” He mashed the buttons on his communicator until it cut out.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	6. A Strange Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old acquaintance stops in to reveal the intelligence he has been gathering on the pair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone who has been following my updates on part II! I've gone ahead and made part I, which is complete, and the first snippets of part III (which were actually what I published first because I guess Star Wars story order?) available to non-registered Ao3 users in case you are looking for something else to read between updates. Enjoy!

In a cottage just outside the capital city of Wakanda, a couple miles from palace, Loki was sulking.

“I think it is meant to be a compliment to make us feel welcome because we spend so much time here, like in Norway.”  She tried to reassure him.

“I liked the palace.”

Upon their return to Norway, princess Shuri had eagerly shown them to their new quarters: a cottage on the outskirts of the capital city similar to one previously occupied by Bucky Barnes while he was recuperating in Wakanda.  Decoratively it was quaint and rustic, but like anything else in Wakanda, it was full of tastefully concealed technological comforts. The couple were hardly roughing it. 

But Loki had been savoring his status as an honored guest.  During missions they were truly living dangerously with limited access to bathing facilities and also the risk of being shot if they were found.  But between missions, he enjoyed his typical palace routine. Rising early to bathe and dress for breakfast, processing grandly down to his meal, and enjoying yard exercises and studies before concluding the day by sharing cocktails and regaling his hosts with tales of other worlds, political intrigue, and heroic deeds.  Some of which were almost true.

He had thought that they were enjoying his company and felt a little hurt at being cast out.  He had not even been taking that many opportunities to spy on courtiers, guards, and technology, despite the potential treasure trove of valuable information the palace no doubt contained.  Every palace did. A decision he now regretted for having apparently forfeited his cushy position.

“I just don’t know where I went wrong.  I thought they liked my stories.” Loki whined.

She sighed.  “Do you want help?”

He brushed her off.  “No, I want to wallow for a bit.  You can’t just cast spells on me all the time to make me feel better.”  She glanced sideways at this patently untrue proclamation and sidled up next to him.

“Well, we can make the place our own?”  She gave him a little friendly nudge to try to coax a smile which was not forthcoming. “We’re still welcome at meals she said.”

He scoffed.  “They don’t mean all of them whatever it is she said.  Probably just dinner. Maybe breakfast. I’ve seen all this before, it’s the beginning of the end.  But usually I know what I did to wear out my welcome. And this time I even made myself useful, going on missions into the hellholes of rural Nigeria to fight criminals and terrorists and kidnappers, and we were successful too.  But it doesn’t matter. Cast out, as always. That’s just who I’m destined to be.” He crossed his arms in thought as she laid her head on his shoulder. She was looking for something else to say when a call came in over the intercom concealed by one of the front windows.  Loki rolled his eyes as if to say “what now,” and hunted a moment before finding the control panel that Shuri had shown them during their short tour, to accept the call.

All of the Avengers they had spoken to the previous day were seated in the same conference room, looking squarely at them.

“Do your empathic powers work over an intercom from another continent?”  Nick Fury broke the tension.

She glanced back and forth among them for a moment.  “I’m not sure. Anyone really hungry all of a sudden?” They all shook their heads.

“Why hide this from us?  We don’t have any quarrel.  You were just here, you could have told us.”

“I didn’t think I was required to disclose it.  The powered registry never passed into law.”

Nick shook his head. “No it didn’t, which is probably for the best.  Maybe. But we have your records as a human with no documented powers.”

A circle of orange sparks appeared in a corner of the room where the Avengers sat as a striking man with a cape and tight beard stepped through.  He looked like he was from another century. “She was. But Loki here has been harnessing the powers of Valhalla on behalf of his girlfriend here.”

“We have a door, David Copperfield.” Tony said to his buddy Stephen.

“Wizard.  We meet again.” Loki glowered, remembering the time he had fallen through a portal into empty space for a full half hour.

“It’s sorcerer supreme or doctor, thanks.” Dr. Strange began to draw a diagram in the air over the conference table.  “As you all know there are an infinite number of parallel universes each with their own energy. We can draw power from some of these universes in our realm here which we arrogantly refer to as the prime material plane.”  He looked around to make sure he had everyone’s full attention as he drew lines between the prime material plane and the Valhalla godplane on his three-dimensional map. Loki thought very judgmental thoughts about what a diva Dr. Strange was being.

“The Asgardian gods draw their powers from the divine energy of the Valhalla plane where, as I understand it, Odin, Frigga, Heimdall, all their deceased gods now reside.  This is my best guess as I have not been able to access this plane, but I did track Thor’s journey to it when he entered what is colloquially known as the Odin-sleep.” He paused to see if anyone was impressed.

“So sorry, I must have misplaced your invitation to my ancestral realm, wizard.” Loki clucked.

“Ah, but you see it’s not your ancestral realm is it.  Thor’s connection to the Valhalla plane was forged at birth, but yours arose from magic.  The same magic you’re now using to power your lady friend there.” He waved his hand at their images on the screen.  

Loki was looking increasingly perturbed.  “You’ve been spying on me.”

“It’s what you would do in my place.”

“Invading my privacy is one thing but I’ll not have you using your two-bit cheap Earth magic to gawk at the lady.”  He took a protective step in front of her.

“Relax Loki.  I only scry you when you sneak off on your own, for the most part.”

“Oh, but how would you know when that is then?”

“A magician never reveals his secrets.”  Said lady thought to herself about Shuri’s earlier observation regarding their energy fields when they were together versus when apart.

Nick stepped in when he saw two boys, one an ancient and powerful demigod and one the supreme sorcerer for the prime material plane, squabbling like territorial squirrels.  “Is he telling the truth Loki, you’re using Asgardian magic to grant powers to your girlfriend?”

“I prefer consort.  And Asgardian magic is the magic I know so it stands to reason.”

“Look, we aren’t looking to fight here, we just don’t understand why you would go out of your way to hide this from us.  When Thor realized he was revealing your secrets he hung up the phone on us like he wasn’t supposed to be telling us, but we didn’t understand why.” Steve Rogers was hoping to break the tension.

“Ah, of course.  I should have known my brother would be the one to blow our cover.” Loki shook his head in dismay.

“No, Natasha figured you out, as usual.  Thor just confirmed it for us.” Tony complimented which was greeted with a little nod from its subject.

“Look what’s happening now.  You find out that I’ve decided to use magic on a human I care about, and we are subjected to an inquisition, even though all she has done so far are good works, with the approval, I might add, of a sovereign Earth nation of high regard.  I think it was reasonable of me to fear that you would attempt to intervene in my affairs should you learn of them.”

Natasha smiled.  “They all think you have some sinister master plan.  I think you just like having secrets.”

“Exactly.  My secrets are my children, and when you take them from me, you leave me with nothing.”

“Nothing but a beautiful girlfriend you’re giving superpowers to, a mansion in Norway, and whatever it is that you keep in your magic pockets.” Tony quipped, and then looked at Dr. Strange. “What does he keep in his pockets exactly, have you checked?”

“I can only provide a partial answer to that question.”

“Oh, why is that?”

“Because all I know about his pockets it that they contain some nasty booby traps.” Dr. Strange said with irritation.  Loki chuckled. “Oh, is it funny that it took Dr. Palmer a week to get all of the spines out of my face?”

Loki full on belly laughed. “Very.  Only a week? She must be very good.  Are you sure she found them all?” Dr. Strange’s lip formed a snarl.  “That’s what you get for quite literally sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”  The doctor remained unamused.

“I’m keeping an eye on you Loki, just know that.”

“An eye is a nasty place to put a thousand spines little wizard, but if you insist.”

Natasha chimed in.  “As much as we are all enjoying this meeting, I don’t imagine you plan to tell us anything more about her powers and how they work?  We will have to find out for ourselves?”

Loki put his hands out and bowed his head forward just enough to attempt the appearance of magnanimity.  “Isn’t that where all the fun is? Finding out for yourself? You wouldn’t take my word for it even if I gave it.”

Natasha shrugged.  “We may take hers, but you haven’t let her talk.”

All eyes now on her.  “The answer is we don’t really know yet.  I can detect and influence people’s emotions using my mind.  That’s about it. I don’t have like a range or potency metric for you. Shuri might, I don’t even know what kinds of measurements she’s been taking.  I’m not sure what else to tell you.”

“Anything else we should know?”  Nick’s eye was looking right at her as she thought back to Shuri’s key observation: not only did she give off an aura but her aura appeared to have synergy with Loki’s.

“Nope.”  And Loki pushed the button to terminate the call, with a little wave.

“What a thoroughly unpleasant day so far.  I apparently have some traps to reset before we engage in any activities that may improve it.”  Loki was annoyed at himself for not having realized his traps had been sprung. She sighed. It was a good thing she could entertain herself, she thought, as she picked up her book.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	7. Thor's Plea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers try to decide what to do about Loki's latest scheme and are shocked at Thor's advice.

The noise in the Avengers conference room had quickly escalated to a dull roar.  Not that anyone disagreed with each other. The idea that Loki, their original enemy, the foe who had brought them all together, was forging himself a powerful companion could not possibly be a good thing.  They just agreed very loudly that something had to be done about it. 

Bruce Banner and Tony Stark commiserated that conferring powers on anyone, even if done with the best of intentions, can have dire consequences.  Natasha recounted for everyone who may have forgotten, which was no one, what Loki was capable of when he recruited powerful people to his side. Steve Rogers noted that all Asgardians, even the benevolent ones, had racked up an impressive body count.

Nick Fury was getting ready to call the international council when they all heard a big thud on the roof over their conference room.  They all looked to the window and saw Thor dangling from the rooftop out the window by one arm, new Mjolnir in his other hand. The combination made it difficult to signal that he wanted to be let inside but the inference was nevertheless collectively drawn.

“You know I personally paid to have some really lovely doors installed in this facility.” Tony quipped.  “I never imagined they would be purely decorative.”

“I have no doubt they are resplendent doors Tony, and I will gladly take your door tour some day.” Thor smiled.  

“Thor I’m glad you’re here.  We talked to your brother again and have a better idea what’s going on.  You’re usually the first person I would call to stop him but this time you were covering for him, lying to us, and I need to know why.” Nick bluntly confronted a god not for the first time in his life.

“Stop him from what?”

“From charging himself up a super-powered girlfriend who can manipulate minds is what.”

“She can’t manipulate minds, my brother’s consort can influence feelings only.  A bit like that alien Mantis although I think the mechanics are different. Similar principle.” Thor recalled.  

“Is everyone saying consort now because I think I like it.  It seems like what a skinny goth in leather would call his girlfriend to make himself sound important.” Tony was fond of tangents.

“Does it refer to a kind of royalty companion because I always thought it meant, uh,” Steve looked at Thor and trailed off.

“Prostitute.” Natasha added helpfully.

“You’re thinking of escort or concubine, I’m pretty sure consort has always been more of a status term.” Bruce started musing.  There were murmurs of speculation rising around the room until Nick cut everyone off.

“I don’t care if she’s a princess, Loki is sculpting himself a sidekick.  Empathic magic can be just as dangerous as mind control in the wrong hands.  Thor, you are helping them, keeping their secrets, and I want to know why.” Nick was furious.

Thor sighed and sat down grandly in a chair that was not quite big enough, leaning forward as if in preparation to tell stories of old.  “I am sure you have gathered by now that throughout our entire lives, Loki and I have been foe as often as friend. At least as often.” He chuckled.  The group nodded to indicate they had indeed so gathered.

“I have fought many enemies but none so formidable as a brother I’m incapable of killing, even when I should.  He and I are a yin and a yang, like north and south magnets who will always be drawn together and always at each other’s throats.  It is the eternal will of the cosmos.”

“I would very much like you to get to the point Thor.”  Nick was not easily intimidated by grandiosity.

“There are ebbs and flows to our conflicts that are almost entirely dependent on his mood.  When he is in a period of strife, my life is miserable. Like when he came to Earth after learning Odin is not his birth father and launched the attack on New York.  That was a rough time for me.” He looked around for a little sympathy which was not forthcoming so he continued. “This is not strictly recorded in your history. But when my brother takes a companion, not just a lover but an actual...” Thor trailed off looking for the right words.

“Mate.” Nick said which received a side-eye from Thor who let it slide.

“That is the only time I truly rest. At times he has stayed relatively contented for years, even a decade.  And when he is contented the trouble he stirs up to keep himself occupied is comparatively innocuous. During those periods he may even do good if it pleases his” Thor looked over at Nick, “princely consort.”  

The group was quiet for a moment at this prospect.  They were already essentially paying Loki extortion money to refrain from murdering too many people while on Earth and now he was taking their women too.  Some of them, Nick Fury in particular, were generally prepared to do whatever was effective even if it didn’t seem quite right. The others harbored doubts.  And even for Nick, this was a big ask.

“This companion is different, although perhaps entirely by dumb luck.  He had never previously known he was not born god and he only just learned how the magic is done.  He just happened to be with her while he did his experiments. I have to say I could not have imagined a better match for him than an empath who can actually make him feel contented even as he grows restless.  Odin and Freyja approve, although I’m a little suspicious that they just want grandchildren someday.”

“Thor, your parents are dead.  How do you know they approve?” Natasha asked gently.

“They told me.” Thor said as if this was self explanatory.

“The Odin-sleep,” Bruce had good recall for physics lectures even if they were from wizards.  “You astrally project to the Valhalla godplane and talk to your parents there.” Thor winked at him approvingly.

“Grandparents?!  They’re going to make more of you monsters?” Nick needed more coffee for this meeting than he had brought.

“Don’t worry Nick, you’ll probably be long dead before they do.  Remember over his whole life Odin only fathered to biological children and I myself have none despite all of...um” Thor trailed off again.  Tony nodded in complete understanding of what Thor was trying to say, thinking back on old times. Steve blushed.

“Please.  For my sake and yours.  Let him have this? They’ve only done good deeds so far as I’m aware and I’ve kept an eye on them over the last few months.  Soon he will be settled enough that I may even be able to let myself get well and truly drunk.”

“He’s going to get hammered.” Bruce chimed in and waited for someone to laugh.  Natasha gave him a generous chuckle which was really the best he ever got so he was satisfied, even though he knew that if Tony had made the same joke people would be rolling on the floor.

Nick sighed.  “I still don’t like it.  You win more friends with honey I know.  But how much honey do I have to let a guy have who caused so much destruction in my hometown?  It’s like we are rewarding his bad behavior over and over again. And I still don’t trust him Thor.”

“Nor should you.” Thor shook his head vigorously at the mere thought.  “Never trust Loki. But trust me. It’s better this way.”

Dr. Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, protector of the New York sanctum who was watching this meeting through a scrying portal, liked it even less.


	8. A Strange Potion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gods indulge their curiosity as to whether their potion has any uses besides metamorphosing their favorite humans into gods.
> 
> And quickly regret it.

“Brother what would happen if one of us were to drink your tincture?” Sitting inside the comparatively humble kitchenette in their Wakandan hut, the couple’s perpetual self-inviting guest Thor watched his brother mix a drop of the Valhalla brew into his beloved’s drink, now that there were no longer secrets among them.  Or at least one less secret.

“Ah, well.  At first when I read the diary I had thought that mother concluded the drink would be fatal to a god but I thought this a bizarre result.  Now that I have discovered my capacity for the Odin-sleep, I re-read the diary and I am fairly confident that it would induce the Odin-sleep by force.”

“By force? What do you mean?” Thor inquired.

“Usually the Odin-sleep is granted us by an ancestor, or in my case the closest I have to an ancestor in Valhalla, but I believe a dollop of this would be a shortcut.” Loki swished the tiny glowing blue vial holding his potion.

“How confident?” she asked.

“At least 75% certain, maybe better.”  As Loki responded to the question, Thor gestured that he wanted a look at the page.  Loki reluctantly pulled the single page from the diary from his pocket, unwilling to bring out the whole book at once.  She was reminded of the legends of dragons and how protective they were of their hoards of treasure. She wondered if he played a role in those stories as well.  She could no longer think of any bizarre Earth lore without wondering.

Thor scrutinized the page and nodded.  “I agree. This roughly translates to ‘a quick trip to Valhalla.’” He pointed at strange symbols on the ancient page that made no sense to her.  “I can see where you would think that meant swift demise but I agree that she means the Odin-sleep. And I think that because it appears she used it herself as she was working on her formulas.”

“I got that impression as well, although I don’t see why it was necessary for her to be so cryptic about it.  But I suppose it wouldn’t be a proper spellbook if it required no de-coding.” Loki remarked.

“Well, which one of us is going to try it?” Thor asked.

“They’re your parents.” Loki remarked.

“Loki, don’t start this again.”

“What, it’s true, they are your parents.”

“And yours,” Thor chided.  “I’m not sure what it would take to convince you at this point to be honest.”

“Plus if I drink this one I’d be drinking my own blood in a way which would be weird.” Loki ignored his brother’s scolding.

Like elementary school children who have mixed all their lunches together in a thermos and dared each other to drink it, ultimately Thor had to prove that he was the bravest by taking his chances.  He dabbed a single drop onto his finger and licked it up.

“Actually that’s quite delicious but I’m not feeling any kind of” but before he could finish the sentence, he was out cold, head on the dining table.  

After he had been gone for about a minute, Loki asked aloud to his unconscious brother’s form “And how are you getting on up there brother?”  Sure enough, as he uttered the question, he too passed out onto the table. She laughed uproariously at their unconscious forms and the idea that Thor was waiting for anything he could interpret as a prayer so he could snatch his brother to Valhalla with him.  

She was only just deciding whether it would be better to arrange them into comedic poses or start tying ribbons into their hair when she was interrupted by a familiar circle of orange sparks forming  at the other end of the room.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Very funny brother, that wasn’t a prayer that was a joke.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose, but when you asked me a question I heard it and started to answer.  I guess that pulled you here.” Thor speculated.

“Well, we are here now.  Have you seen anyone yet?”

Thor pointed behind Loki who turned around to gaze at the most magnificent palace he had ever laid eyes on.  It was possible that the palace here was made of solid diamond, but instead of blinding light from the sun it exuded a gentle and elegant natural shimmer.  Upon further inspection it appeared not to be reflecting the light so much as creating it. And it was enormous. 

As idyllic as the palace appeared, it didn’t lack the militaristic flair of Asgard.  Asgardian heroes’ heaven certainly wouldn’t have complete with inadequate fortifications.  The walls surrounding the shimmering moat that encircled the palace also appeared to be diamond with golden gates.  Behind the moat the rising turrets served a clear dual purpose of decoration and fortification.

The bridge across the moat, which the boys now ventured to cross, shimmered reminiscent of the bifrost.

“My sons.” Odin came out of the gates to greet them.  “Your mother and I are pleased you have discovered the path to visit.  But be careful not to use it too often. As you recall, sometimes I would fall into the sleep for days at a time.  This is not a trick I would recommend be overused. But nevertheless I am glad you have come.”

“You induced your sleep intentionally using mother’s tincture then?” Loki asked.

“Indeed I did.  I often sought the wisdom of my forefathers as I strove to rule over the nine realms.  I hope that I have instilled in the two of you more independence than that, the confidence to go forth on your own.  The more times I sought wisdom in the sleep the harder it was to pull myself out of it.” Loki stayed quiet as had become his habit in Odin’s presence over hundreds of years.  “Have you come to seek my guidance or just to get a tour of the place?”

“Father to be perfectly truthful we came here on a dare.  We weren’t sure if mother’s formula would kill us or just grant us the Odin-sleep so I tried it out and then pulled Loki along.”

“And that was very stupid.” A familiar face emerged from the castle with golden glistening eyes and a serious face.  Here in Valhalla he had maintained his luxurious silver dreadlocks in lieu of his helmet and armor, a symbol of his now eternal independence from his prior oaths of fealty.  But it seemed that even in death the foibles of the Odinsons plagued him.

“You have left the woman all but defenseless without you.” Heimdall scolded.

Loki laughed.  “We have been told that before, but actually,” Heimdall cut off his explanation.

“You don’t think a skilled wizard could erect a temporary barrier against her empathic abilities?  She has never even slapped anyone. Without her abilities she has nothing.”

Thor grew concerned.  “Heimdall, what are you saying, what can you see?”

“No time.  You need to get back.”  Heimdall stepped in front of Odin and gave both princes a firm smack on the forehead with his outstretched palm as he had probably been longing to do for years.

The two of them roused themselves to the sound of shrieking.  Loki had never heard her come unglued before.

“Loki he took it.  Strange, the sorcerer, took your potion.”

“Took it, you mean he stole it?”

“No,” she shouted.  “He drank it.”


	9. Phases

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Real danger comes to Wakanda as Dr. Strange accidentally gets in over his head.

“All of it?” Loki screamed in disbelief.  “That was almost a month’s supply, what kind of idiot would…”  He was interrupted as she ran to him sobbing.

“You were right.  I have to learn to fight.  He had up some barrier and my abilities didn’t affect him at all.  He took it from me like I was a child and he wouldn’t listen when I...”

Thor chimed in. “We should never have left you alone with something so valuable  The fault lies with us. Where did he go?”

At that moment they heard a splitting thundercrack in the field outside the hut.

“Stay here,” Loki instructed her as he bolted out the door after his brother.

The midday Wakandan sky had turned pitch black which made the glowing white light emanating from the floating wizard almost blinding by comparison.  Dr. Strange was hovering a few hundred feet outside the hut in the middle of a field. He radiated a frightening power.

“So.  This is what natural power feels like.  All this time I relied on books and spells and rings and capes and you two just walked around, feeling like this all the time.”  He raised a hand to the sky and called a thunderbolt to his palm.

“No wizard, you have taken a huge dose of this potion.  This is not Asgardian power, this is madness.” Thor tried to reason with him.

Dr. Strange laughed.  “If only the Ancient One had access to the Valhalla plane as I now have, she would have abandoned the dark magic centuries ago.”  He conjured a black spear in his other hand and hurled it halfheartedly towards Thor, but missed. He took a deep breath through his nose and exhaled with a huge sigh.  “I see why you two are so arrogant. This strength is intoxicating. I feel invincible.”

“You don’t look it.” Loki remarked and then immediately had to dodge a wave of red energy that roared at him through the air.  “It’s tearing you apart.”

Thor had not noticed until then the cracks forming in Strange’s face.  A fiery light seemed to show through them like cracks in cooling lava revealing the heat underneath. 

“You think I can’t handle this power?  I have traveled to countless alternate dimensions and mastered their energies.  Valhalla is simply the latest plane from which I draw power. And now I can wield the elemental forces using its magic.” A truism he demonstrated by raising a circle of fire around the place he was now floating.

“Now Doctor.  I know you and I don’t always see eye to eye.  But you have not read the spellbook containing this magic and I have.  Why don’t you just turn off the fire, come down, and let me help you live through this.” Loki said with his palms outstretched in a display of diplomatic magnanimity.  

“That is the last lie you will ever tell god of tricks.” Loki watched as a tiny white hot orb that appeared to be a miniature star formed in the palm of the wizard’s hand and hurled straight towards the illusion he had been negotiating with, leaving a deep scorching crater where it landed.

“That was unfair,” another image of Loki stepped forward in the same spot.  “I stated a fact and made a request, there was no lie. And I will help you even though you threatened my lover, which I have to say does not tend to put people on my good side.”

Strange scoffed.  “Your lover. More like your prisoner.  Or maybe,” he added with a sardonic smile, “your captor.  You haven’t noticed how she keeps you occupied, day and night, to keep you out of trouble?  Manipulating your emotions, making you feel loved, binding you to her. She doesn’t love you, she’s sacrificing herself to protect her species.  When I kill you I will take her to my sanctum where she can be truly safe and won’t have to keep living a lie. What an ordeal she must be going through to be with a monster like you, day in and day out.”

The real Loki instinctively slipped a dagger out of his sleeve at these words as his illusion said with apparent dispassion “That’s not nice of you to say wizard.  Keep that up and I may not be inclined to help you.” But it was too late. Strange sensed the movement of the dagger and turned to face Loki’s hiding place as he conjured a second star orb.  The real Loki only barely evaded the orb’s blast.

As he rolled forward he saw a huge electronic grid form around the wizard as Okoye and T’Challa came speeding towards the hut on vibranium hover bikes, wearing full armor and looking ready for battle.  

“Loki, what hell have you brought to my kingdom this time?” T’Challa confronted him.

“Why does everyone always think it’s me?” Loki said, somewhat breathless following his near escape.

“Because half the time it is,” Thor remarked, running over to join the group.  “I would have drawn the same conclusion.” 

Loki rolled his eyes and pointed to the floating doctor who was ferociously working to extricate himself from the barrier that surrounded him.  “Clearly it’s the wizard over there your majesty, he stole a potion from my collection and drank it. Like an idiot.” The last words were more spat than said.

“Shuri, what have you got.” T’Challa said into his wristwatch.

“I can’t keep him contained very long, the energy field around him is too strong.  But worse than that, I think he’s phasing.”

“Phasing?” Okoye asked disdainfully as she again prepared for combat on her home soil.  At times like this she remembered her objections to allowing outsiders into the kingdom.  

“As I can recall, this sorcerer has traveled to countless planes of existence.  He also endured hundreds of repeats of a time loop in the dark dimension using the time stone before Thanos took it.  Apparently with the energy from Loki’s potion, he is existing in many different planes and dimensions simultaneously. He is almost fading from dimension to dimension faster than my equipment can measure.  And,” she added, “I think it’s getting worse.”

As she said this, an earth-shattering screech came from Dr. Strange’s direction as he vanished completely from view.  Seconds later he reappeared, his body contorted in pain. At times he disappeared entirely but at other moments there appeared to be two, three, or even more of him occupying one space all at the same time.  His movements became disjointed and blurry. With the next blast of energy from within him, the field around him shattered and he fell to the ground, still appearing to phase.

“LOKI” Strange shouted as he stumbled to his feet.  “What have you done to me. What magic is this that you’ve been siphoning to an innocent woman all this time?  This is pure agony.” His speech was broken and difficult to understand, almost as if it was spoken from another place altogether.

“A human who tried to warn you against taking a potion you knew nothing about.” Loki pointed his dagger menacingly towards the staggering Wizard.

“I am sworn to protect all humans.  I will free her from your clutches.”  Strange started to conjure a lightning bolt but crumpled back to the ground before he could finish.

“And how are you going to do that when you’re falling apart at the seams?”  Upon seeing his would-be opponent showing weakness, Loki began to grow bolder.  As the others looked on in horror, the image of Loki before them seemed to double and triple in size as his signature horned helmet formed on his head.  “If you don’t start listening to reason I’m going to have to use force.” His genuine anger at the wizard’s earlier comments was poorly concealed. 

Thor was keenly aware that making Loki doubt whether he was truly loved was a dangerous gamble. “Careful brother let’s not escalate this situation unnecessarily.”

A voice came over King T’Challa’s communicator.  “The phasing is intensifying, and I’m now getting heavy interference from another source.  Brother what is happening down there? I can’t reintroduce the force field if this continues, it’s too unstable.”

“Loki stop it, you’re just making it worse, we need to calm him down.” Thor shouted at the giant mirror images of his brother that now surrounded the phasing wizard.

But Loki had been robbed, accused of kidnapping, and worst of all, told the love he had been enjoying was false.  Reason was not going to stop him as his images encircled the wizard closer and closer, waiting to strike a killing blow.

“Pathetic human.  You thought you could become a god uninvited.  And now you will never learn the error of your ways.”  Loki began to reach into his pocket dramatically. Thor was fearful what weapon he may have tucked away.

“Loki don’t make me fight you right now.” Thor went to take a step forward but found his feet were bound to the earth by unseen magic.  “LOKI!” His cries fell on deaf ears.

And with that, Strange began to phase faster and faster.  He appeared almost to be vibrating as he again began to hover slightly above the ground.  White hot light started to emanate from his eyes, fingertips, and toes as he rose aloft. “If I go, I’m taking you with me trickster.”  The light grew hotter and brighter and began to surround him completely.

The real Loki realized all too late that she was in front of him, knowing exactly where he stood by sensing the rage emanating from his core instead of using her eyes to search for him.  Before he had the chance to move her aside, a ripple of energy so powerful he could see it rolled from her outstretched hands towards the floating doctor, meeting in midair the spinning hot light coming from him.  The energy waves collided midair and passed through each other. 

As Strange was hit by her wave of energy, the rage and tension left his body.  He collapsed to the ground in a heap, now breathing slowly with his head down. Calmer, but still phasing.  Almost immediately, the forcefield reformed around him. But this time instead of fighting to break free, the empathic energy that had flooded his body held him down.  The darkness that had filled the sky dissipated making way for the midday sun.

“I’ve got him, I think.” Came Shuri’s voice over the communicator.  “I can partially stabilize the interdimensional phasing but I need to transport him to the lab to try to understand better what’s happening to him.  It’s a good thing he didn’t blow, he could have taken a lot of us with him.” 

“Good work my princess.  My guards and I will figure out how to get him to you as safely as we can before the effects of the empathic magic wear off.”  Okoye moved hastily to fulfill her promises.

Loki neither saw nor heard these events unfold.  Because at his feet, facedown in the undignified soil of Midgard, lay the only person whose love he had ever really believed he had won.  The second woman in his life who would have sacrificed herself for him. His constant companion for the past few months during his confinement to an obscure little rock far from his destroyed homeworld.

Dead.


	10. Worthy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His beloved dead at his feet, Loki invokes the darkest magic he had hidden from everyone as he swears vengeance.

To the extent the two onlooking humans harbored any doubts as to why their ancestors labeled these aliens as gods all those centuries ago

Those doubts vanished.

As Loki knelt down and tenderly rotated the body of his beloved to face her looking up towards the sun in a dignified manner befitting his partner, they felt the ground beneath them begin to rumble.  Loki did not look away from her face as he rose from where he had knelt beside her and reached his hand up to the magic pocket he kept just above shoulder height.

From the pocket he pulled a familiar scepter.  One that had theoretically been confiscated from him by the Avengers years before.  But the scepter did not contain the mind stone that had been restored to the head of Vision.  Instead, the Chitauri scepter contained a different stone. Obsidian black yet somehow emitting light, the polished stone glimmered as he took the scepter into his hand.  Veins of ebony matching his hair began to run along his golden helmet until it was entirely encased in black to the tips of his horns.

As he looked up, his brother, T’Challa and Okoye saw in horror that his eyes had also gone completely black.

“Loki, I know you’re hurt but he’s still unstable.  Whatever you’re about to do…”

Loki ignored his brother’s pleas and tapped the ground three times with his staff.  A translucent black bubble hemisphere encased him and the still struggling wizard. 

“Loki, stop,” Thor called out as thunderclouds rolled in over the usually peaceful Wakandan countryside.  Whatever light there had been in the sky was now replaced with a mixture of ominous gray clouds and the darkness of a moonless night.  The only light radiated from the staff and Thor’s gathering lightning bolts.

Instinctively, Okoye grabbed T’Challa by the arm and began to pull him to shelter behind the hut.  “This isn’t our fight, your majesty.” T’Challa was tempted to intervene but took another look at the vengeful god in front of him and thought better of it.  He got on his communicator as they went to hiding.

“Shuri, what have you got for me?”

“I can’t mount a forcefield because of the interference, I can’t send in a plane because of the lightning.  What is going on there? Should I launch a ground force?” Her reply was garbled.

T’Challa shook his head even though the visuals on his communicator had cut out.  “Negative, I need to de-escalate this situation, not antagonize him further.”

“Antagonize who?” Shuri demanded.

Just on the other side of the hut from where they hid, a swirling black mist had begun to arise around the feet of their would-be antagonist, his black hair flapping against his face as though gusts of wind were blowing through his hemispheric enclosure.

“I’m not going to kill him brother.  He is going to endure an eternity of torments as I watch, day after day after endless day.  He will wish he had stayed in the domain of the merciful Dormamu who at least afforded him the courtesy of death after blissful death.”

“Loki, what the Hel is that stone?”

“A little something I picked up on Sakaar.  You think I found my way to the other infinity stones through sheer dumb luck?”  The blackening glow off the stone had begun to send veins akin to flowing black tar through the ground from where the staff had struck, seeping through the soil in every direction.  Similar veins emanated from each of Loki’s footsteps as he slowly and deliberately approached his quarry.

Thor blasted the hemisphere with a bolt of lightning to no avail as it refracted off the surface, blowing across it like ripples of sand cascading across the desert.  In the light of the lightning Thor could see the wizard, still writhing on the ground and still phasing.

“Of all the secrets you’ve kept from me.”

“I am my secrets.  I told you without them I have nothing.  Now it’s really true. I have nothing.” His previously cold and unnervingly even voice finally broke with the last word and the rumbling in the ground doubled in force.

“What we have, you, the last of my family, that’s nothing?”  Loki stayed silent. A portal began to open between Loki and Dr. Strange that resembled a tiny black hole.  Thor looked on in horror as it slowly began to grow in size, until it was an opening big enough for a man to enter.

But at that exact moment, Thor caught something out of the corner of his eye.  A glimmer of golden yellow light.

“LOKI, STOP!”

“It’s too late brother, your pleas fall on…”

“Loki you idiot, turn around and look.  I think she’s alive.”

Loki was skeptical but looked over his shoulder towards the golden flecks of light that had begun to form around her fallen body.  He dropped the staff. In an instant, it all collapsed. The dark portal, the black horns, the nighttime sky, the hemisphere, and the trembling ground vanished.  His helmet disappeared.

Loki had seen these golden specks once before (that he could recall) when his father Odin had left the prime material plane to take his seat in Valhalla.  But this time the flecks didn’t scatter. Instead they seemed to pull in towards her.

Thor looked on as the thunderclouds behind him likewise began to dissipate and nodded at his brother.  “Of course. She sacrificed herself for you in the heat of a losing battle. A death worthy of Valhalla.”

Loki’s eyes, no longer under the weight of his helmet, widened with a mix of fear and confusion at his brother’s words.  As much as he had speculated what it was that would make the magic permanent, the third and final component of the spell, he had no recollection of ever dying.

He looked at his surroundings with the urgency of a wounded animal as the golden particles converged and lit up his beloved with a blinding flash.  When their sight returned they saw her lying before them, clad in the ethereal dress she had worn on her visit to Valhalla. She raised one hand slightly off the ground.  “Loki?”

Forgetting about his precious staff and the Dark Stone, Loki ran forward, scooped her up, and departed with her in his arms at a dead sprint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to leave on a cliffhanger for two weeks. At the most pivotal turning point of the whole work, I literally had a baby. Good news is now I'm on leave from work and the fic is about half written on paper with the rest in my head. Now I can get the rest down. :)


	11. A Hard Bargain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor is stuck with a sinister staff and a wizard in trouble. He does not have much time to negotiate a bargain with the only sorcerer he knows who may be able to solve this dilemma.

Thor, Okoye and T’Challa were left with a set of dilemmas.  Before them, now in broad daylight, were a collapsed and phasing wizard and a sinister looking staff bearing an obsidian stone.

“What is that thing Thor?” T’Challa demanded to know of the staff.

“I’m not sure.  Loki suggested it was an unknown infinity stone and judging by the power it radiated when he wielded it I believe him.  The scepter is Chitauri.”

Okoye scoffed. “I knew we could not trust him to shed old allegiances, however much he acted like he opposed Thanos once it seemed Thanos would lose.  He should be arrested before he summons the Chitauri army to Wakanda.”

“My brother has no allegiance to the Chitauri.  I am certain this was stolen. He cannot resist keeping powerful artifacts for his collection.  He is like, what is that Earth bird that collects. A crow.”

T’Challa put his hands on his hips.  “Today he is a crow in my nest and that item is unwelcome here.  Can we move it before he returns for it?”

Thor scratched his head.  “I can withstand stones but I’m leery of handling this staff after seeing the effect it had on my brother.  Obviously he was able to discard it before it overtook him but I imagine he spent some time studying it. If he got it on Sakaar, he has had it for several years.”  He pondered for another moment and looked around. There was no sign of his brother. Thor crouched down next to the scepter and snapped his fingers. The scepter appeared to be sucked into an invisible pocket at his side.

“Thor, I thought you weren’t much of a sorcerer.” T’Challa remarked, sounding impressed.

“I’m not much of a sorcerer the same way Loki is not much of an athlete.  The standards in my family are somewhat exacting. I didn’t always skip sorcery lessons in school.”  Thor tipped his head to either side yielding a satisfying crack.

“How long is an Asgardian in school?” T’Challa wondered aloud.

“About 50 years, give or take, but then usually you study abroad for a time.”

“This is a lovely conversation for kings to have while there are more urgent problems,” Okoye quipped.  The three all turned towards the wizard. In broad daylight it was clear that he was grimacing in pain even though the empathic magic had calmed him down.

“I’m afraid this magic is beyond my capacity.” Thor shook his head.

“Shuri, are you able to help Doctor Strange here stop phasing?” Okoye said into her communicator.

“You have to get him to the lab, there is not much I can do from here.  But I have no suggestions as to how to transport him and I’m not sure he’s safe to be touched.”  The reply finally came through more clearly.

“Helpful Shuri, would you keep working on it please?” T’Challa was letting his frustration show.

“No I thought I’d call it an early night brother and save the wizard phasing into alternative dimensions as a problem for later.”  T’Challa cursed under his breath in Xhosa, not aware that Thor could understand any language.

Thor sighed.  “The problem is that situations like this.  Whenever there is new and unique magic causing a seemingly intractable dilemma.  Whenever Asgard needs a creative and probably dangerous idea.”

T’Challa sighed and rubbed his forehead to indicate he suspected he would soon develop a headache.  “That’s what Loki’s for isn’t it.”

Thor nodded.  “That’s what he’s for.”

Okoye remained expressionless.  “I suppose everyone is good for something.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We have to go back.” She felt simultaneously weak and weary and stronger than she had ever been as she became increasingly aware of how fast she was being carried into the wilderness.  She had never run with him but suspected, based on how fast she had become on the elixir of Valhalla and his height, that he might be very fast indeed. Her suspicions were confirmed. She surmised they had already traveled some miles by the time she became cognizant.

“I won’t risk losing you again.”  He didn’t even sound winded at this speed.

“Loki stop.  Don’t make me fight you.”

He came to a halt and laid her down carefully on the ground, shushing her as she tried to sit up.

“We have to go back.  We can help. He is not just phasing here.  I saw him, he is phasing in and out of Valhalla.  Maybe some other planes as well. This could get really dangerous.”

“That is his problem and their problem to solve.  You and I are getting out of danger.” Loki was obstinate.  

“Loki, you think Thor knows how to fix this without you?”

“Of course.  His approach to any problem is the same.  Step one, hit it with a hammer. Often this step negates the need for a step two.”

“Loki.”

He sighed because she was right.  A wizard phasing uncontrollably between realms was his kind of puzzle to solve.  And he had come up with an idea while he was running. An idea that naturally would both solve the problem and prove beneficial to him.

“I don’t want to leave you here defenseless.”

“You’re not leaving me here, you’re taking me back with you.  I can at least ease his pain while you figure out how to transport him.”

“Ease his pain.” Loki scoffed.  “If I were you I would enhance it.  It’s better than he deserves.”

“You would have done the same in his shoes.  If you found a potion that let you access limitless magical powers.”

“This is different.  He stole from me. And he hurt you.”

“He didn’t mean to.  And he’s popular on Earth.  This isn’t capital we can afford to blow.  Come on, carry me back, my hero.”

He cleared his throat at that.  “I’m not your hero. I put you in danger.  If anything, what you did today. When I was,” he paused.  “When he.” He paused again. “You.”

She stopped him.  “And I’d do it again.  Take me back. You owe me.”

He sighed and pressed his forehead against hers as he tried to focus on the task before him instead of the wave of emotion he was feeling as it sank in.  He finally had proof that he was truly loved. He thought to himself that it shouldn’t have to take such extremes for him to believe, but he couldn’t change who he was.  And apparently for her, he didn’t have to change.

But with a soldier’s resolve, as he had done many times before, he wiped his mind of his feelings.  He scooped her up in his arms and ran back towards the incipient catastrophe.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Strange?  You okay in there?  How is it going old friend.  Are you ready to admit this was a mistake?”  Thor’s efforts to lighten the mood were as futile as his attempt to attract the wizard’s attention.  He seemed to drift in and out of consciousness as much as he drifted in and out of the material plane.

“Thor, I don’t think your brother is coming back.  Do you have any ideas at all?” T’Challa was growing exasperated.

“If I thought it would work I would just grab him and fly to the palace on Mjolnir.  But I think he wouldn’t hang on very well.”

“You can’t solve every problem with a hammer.  Where’s my staff?” Came a disembodied voice.

“Loki!  You mean your contraband.  This staff is your most serious parole violation to date and that’s a hefty criticism.”

Loki appeared before them but there was no sign of his beloved.  “Nothing in my parole documents says I cannot possess the Dark Stone, I read them very carefully.” He said with an assured smile.

“I’m sure the international counsel will agree with your exceedingly narrow reading of ‘dangerous weaponry’ when they hear about this staff.”

“When they hear from whom?” Loki crossed his arms in judgment.

“Loki, now’s not the time.  What are we going to do about Strange?”

“I think now is exactly the time.  Because I think I can get Strange to the lab if you give me back my staff.”

Okoye noticed that Strange’s grimace seemed to lessen as they were talking.  The lessening of his pain did seem to slow the rate of phasing. “I think he is fighting it.” She pointed out to the others.

“My beloved is easing his suffering from hiding, don’t worry about that.  I need my staff.”

“Brother, you cannot keep this weapon, a previously unknown infinity stone.  It needs to be placed in exile with the others at the far reaches of the universe.”

“How small minded of you not to see the value in keeping it handy.  I need it to get Strange to the lab.”

Thor scoffed.  “A likely story.  You can’t have it.”

“I’m going to get it back.  You only ever hide things in one of two pockets.  You’d be better off putting it under your pillow.”

“No, I’m taking it into space, come up with something else.”

“Strange is currently phasing between the prime material plane, Valhalla, and the other realms to which he has traveled which I surmise are many.  The Dark Stone is not a primary infinity stone because while those stones capture the essence of things that are, the Dark Stone is the essence of things that are not.  It is powered by the dark matter of the universe. Its nature is absence.”

Thor winced.  “You’re proposing to transport him along a dark matter corridor to temporarily bypass his phasing across different material realms.”

“Unless you have a better idea.”  Loki said knowing that he didn’t.

“I saw what the staff did to you.  How will you fight its influence?”

“I was furiously angry when I took the staff before.”

“And you’re suddenly better?”

“Much.”

Thor never found scrutinizing his brother’s face from afar to be very profitable so he walked over and poked him.

“No illusions.  I’m fine.”

“Is she using her magic on you?”

“For once, I think she doesn’t have to.”

Thor, knowing his brother better than anyone else in the universe ever could, sighed and nodded.  “You cannot keep it afterwards or I will tell the Avengers you have it. You give it to me to put in hiding.”

“What a waste.  You don’t really want to make the Avengers fight me for the staff, think of the casualties.”

“I am.  She could be one.  You have something to lose now.  Save Strange, give me the back the staff and stone, and in exchange we won’t divulge that you possessed it illegally.”

Loki momentarily lamented the downside to his new attachment.  He did hate the idea that someone could get leverage over him by exploiting that he cared for someone.  The last person to do that was Thanos, exploiting his affection for his brother. At least now both those he cared for were blessed with some resilience.  He would not miss her human fragility, he thought to himself.

“You drive a hard bargain for someone desperate brother.  I may be proud of you.”

“If you say no I haven’t tried my hammer yet.  It can solve lots of problems.”

The wizard let out an earth-shattering howl that faded into static as he phased in and out of reality, reappearing again completely unconscious and slumped over.  The empath found herself struggling to keep him stable.

“So, I save the wizard who murdered my consort before my eyes, I lose my staff, and all I get in exchange is your assurance of silence as to any crimes you think I have committed today?”

“You have a pretty good deal going here on Earth.  Amnesty, an income, almost complete freedom to wander around.  With a girlfriend.”

T’Challa added “Plus I gave you a house in the finest kingdom the world has ever known.”

“More like you kicked me out of your palace without explanation.”

“Ungrateful.  You spent most of your time in your room, we thought you wanted some privacy.  It is a fine house.”

“Loki, you’re not keeping the staff.  So unless you have something else you’re going to ask for, can we get on with it?” Thor brought them back to the subject.

Loki extended his hand for the staff to indicate his acceptance of the bargain.  Thor only had so many hiding places in the universe anyway. Some day he would get it back.  As he extended his hand he also finally revealed the hiding place of the newly risen goddess who had been sending aid to the wizard unseen.  “Thor, be a dear and take her to the palace to meet me?” Thor nodded and the staff appeared.

Loki took a deep breath in and out before he grabbed the staff.  He took a brief moment to calibrate himself to it again. Thor saw his eyes turn ebony.  For this to work without the staff overtaking him he would have to act quickly. Okoye looked over at the empath and saw her attentions had shifted from the wizard to Loki to help him resist the tempting draw of the void.

He looked beyond in the distance to the palace which was his goal, recalling in his mind the position of Shuri’s lab.  He turned to face the wizard. With a running start, he sprang towards him. Everyone looked on with a mix of hope and horror as the two of them vanished together into a black void that shrank to the size of the head of a pin before it disappeared entirely.


	12. A Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Loki keep his bargain?

T’Challa and Okoye wasted no time hopping on their bikes to head back towards the palace.  Thor looked over to size up the condition of his newest peer. She stood on her feet and started to declare “Let’s fly, it’s faster,” when she wobbled.

“It’s not far.  Let’s run. It’s safer.”  He hoisted her up off the ground for a bumpy manner of travel she was growing unhappily accustomed to.  As fast as Loki ran, Thor was faster, and they nearly caught up with the bikes. 

Over a minute had passed and they had not seen any sign that Loki and Strange had reached their destination. 

She was kicking herself for letting him embark on such a reckless plan without a fight.  He had never told her he possessed this stone and she had thought there were not many secrets of this magnitude he was still keeping from her.   Now he was traveling through a dark matter corridor, whatever that was, with a phasing wizard, equally incomprehensible to her, to reach Shuri’s lab.  She tried to take a measure of comfort in the fact that Thor had agreed to the deal.

But Thor for his part did not think traversing a dark matter corridor less than a mile should have taken this long, although he was not sure dark matter distances correlated to those of the material plane.  He was struggling to think of what rider clauses he should have appended to his bargain with his brother, although he had long ago learned that the more restrictions he placed on any deal with Loki, the more eagerly Loki would search for loopholes.  Thor would never beat his brother at thinking through all the possible loopholes to a contract. So he had long ago decided that a simple bargain was the best. Even so.

What bothered him the most about this bargain was how well he had made out.  A wizard and a staff boasting an an infinity stone in exchange for complicit silence.  He looked down at the woman he carried. As he left Loki had asked him to take her to the palace.  Was this the real bargain? Incarcerated or fugitive, he would lose what he had come to enjoy: almost total freedom to roam the world with this companion.  

But a stone?  He would trade that power for companionship? 

Love?  

Thor recalled that Loki had traded a stone for a loved one once before on the deck of the escape ship from Asgard.  The Tesseract for his own head. Loki was far more sentimental than he ever let on except at the most critical moments when he betrayed what he really cared about.  All his lust for power, his need to have an escape plan, his thirst for freedom, his natural deviance. He would always trade it for love in the end. Time after time, whatever crime he had committed, whatever grudge he bore.  He would come through for those few he loved.

As the party arrived at the entrance to the palace they heard a shriek coming from the lab.

“Shuri!”  T’Challa and Okoye, who had already been running, doubled their speed through the palace. They arrived to see an exasperated Shuri busy at her workstation.

“You could have let me know a super villain carrying an unconscious wizard was going to magically appear in my laboratory.” She quipped.

“Thanks for thinking I’m super.” Loki was brushing off his robes.

“Loki, where did you go for over a minute?” Thor scolded as he got to the lab.

“Our deal was that I would bring him to the lab.  You said nothing about bringing him straight to the lab.”

“Loki…”

“I was prepared to issue him a little punishment to be honest, but he is not doing so well.  I think he has learned the lesson that stealing from me is its own punishment.”

“Loki, you are such a hypocrite about thievery.” Thor was shaking his head.

“Nonsense, my principles are quite universal.  Don’t steal from me and don’t purport to possess anything that I want.  It’s very simple.”

“You are the worst brother.”

“Our trade please.”  Loki extended the staff in the direction of his brother who was still holding Loki’s beloved.

“Right,” Thor said, lowering the lady to the ground as he extended his hand to receive the staff.

“T’Challa, Okoye, everyone, I kept my end of the bargain?”

“I was not a party to this bargain Loki.  I may still have to report you.” T’Challa was looking stern.

“I’m keeping this then.” Loki pulled the staff back to his chest.

T’Challa sighed.  “I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

“I don’t negotiate with mortals.” Loki replied.  “I’m making an exception for a king.”

“Loki, come on.” Thor implored.  “T’Challa, we got a good deal here.  Look, you can see he brought the wizard to Shuri’s care and he’s surrendering the staff.  I’m not sure what has him feeling so generous but this could have gone much worse. Please?”

T’Challa looked at his general.  “It’s a fair price for surrendering the staff that we not reveal he was hiding it.  But we should not conceal the existence of another stone.”

Thor nodded at her wise words.  “After I have hidden it I will tell the Avengers that I discovered another stone in my travels.  Loki maybe you can tell me its properties.”

“That was not part of our bargain.  T’Challa, we have a deal then? This all stays between us?”

T’Challa nodded.  “Agreed.”

Thor took the staff from his brother very gingerly, not wanting to inspire its powers with his touch, and immediately slipped it into a pocket.  The staff now taken from his grasp, Loki turned his attention to his beloved.

“How are you feeling?”

“Simultaneously exhausted and fantastic if that makes any sense.”

He nodded. “I had my suspicions about what the last step may be but I didn’t want to scare you without being sure.  This is much sooner than I anticipated.”

“All’s well that ends well.”  She reached up to stroke his cheek.  She realized that she had lost something in her ascension.  That pleasant tingly feeling she felt when touching his skin as a human had faded.  But that was silly. She would trade that any day in exchange for the chance to share a few thousand years with him.

He took the hand from his face and took her other hand in his as he looked down at her with more tenderness than he had ever previously let show.

“In all my years and all of my travels, no one has ever made me feel so loved as you did today.  I know I have been loved. I just seem incapable of appreciating it. Until I stumbled across you.”

“I know what you mean.  I didn’t realize just how alone I was in the world until at last I wasn’t.” She smiled up at him. Until suddenly she was smiling down at him as he knelt in front of her.

“This is how it’s done where you’re from isn’t it?” he said as he looked up at her from one knee.  “Don’t make a joke, I can’t stay serious for very long,” he added. He knew her too well. She was as inclined as he was to break the tension with some irreverent comment.  She did her best not to ruin the moment.

“It is.” She choked out.

“Be mine forever then?” He looked up at her with all the sincerity he could maintain for longer than a few seconds.

“Wouldn’t it be something,” she said, “If I was prepared to die to protect you but not to be your wife.”

“I said no jokes.” He smiled at her nervously.

“Yes, I will.”

He looked relieved as he rose to give her a kiss.  After savoring the moment for a few seconds he said.  “Okay Thor.”

Thor sounded excited.  “Are you sure?”

“I’m not sure I have much choice do I?”

Thor ran forward and wrapped his arms around them both.  “I’m finally getting a sister who hasn’t tried to kill me yet.”

Okoye leaned over to T’Challa and whispered. “I think that was sweet?”

T’Challa whispered back “Yes, let’s go with that General.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m just over here doing things no one has ever done before all by myself.” Shuri remarked as she pressed the final button in her sequence, shoring up the forcefield she had erected around Doctor Strange.  “His phasing is naturally slowing already. At the present rate of decline, I expect he will be back to normal within about two and a half days.” She looked around. “Not that anyone cares.”

“Good work Shuri.” T’Challa turned his attention over to his sister.  “Okoye, can you find out whether there is anyone we should notify that the doctor will be with us for a few days?”

Okoye bowed her head and made her exit, casting one final side-eye at the Asgardians as she left.  She was looking forward to their departure from the kingdom perhaps more than anyone else was.

“Well,” Thor said, clapping Loki soundly on the shoulder, “A long journey awaits me tomorrow and I expect you two will want to retire to your cottage.  Let’s call it an early night and reconvene at breakfast. T’Challa my usual room is open?” The king nodded.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He insisted on carrying her back to their cottage even though she claimed she was fine.  She did have to admit it was a romantic gesture, backlit by the incomparable Wakandan sunset.  At least this time he finally wasn’t running.

“What was that business about a stone?  I was dead at the time.”

“We had to sacrifice one of our best weapons tonight, but it was worth the price.”

“Is that the royal we or are the contents of your pockets already community property?  How rich am I now?”

“Not so rich as I now that I have my own goddess.” He smirked at her.

“Is that richer than me having my own god then?”

“You agreed to be mine, I said nothing about being yours.”

“There it is.  You couldn’t stay away from jokes that long could you.

“I am literally the god of jokes.”

“I’m the goddess of making huge mistakes then?” He looked to see her return his cheeky smirk.

“Truth be told,” he paused as they reached their cottage, “I was yours already.”

“I know.” She said as he carried her over the threshold for the second time in their relationship.  “But you were about to break your promise to me.”

“One wizard is not a killing spree.”   He sighed. “But I know what you mean. I had not thought of a gift for humanity in your honor just yet.  It’s a good thing I don’t have to.”

“I’m not so sure.  I did die.”

“Were those our terms?  I can’t seem to recall.” He noted as he laid her down on their bed and moved to lay by her side.”

“I think you owe humanity a gift.  It’s the least you can do. I did save your life.”

“Are you sure I can’t do better?” he whispered, pressing forward for another kiss.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although Strange liked to be called a sorcerer, there is a key difference between sorcery and wizarding.  Wizards gain their powers as the product of careful study and the scientific method. Trial and error, dutifully recorded.  Sorcerers can learn magic in this way but more often the discovery of sorcery is the product of random chance and lucky accident; the exercise of innate magic employed for no better reason than whim.

That night the pair made love in a manner they had many times before; she employing her powers of empathy to make him feel however she wanted him to and he employing his powers of perception to heighten any sensation he wanted her to notice.  Given this combination of abilities, who wouldn’t?

They almost didn’t notice that something was different.  That this night, using their powers together, their magic rippled beyond just themselves until they were the center of a shockwave.


	13. Accidental Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki has no idea that the combination of his perception magic with the empathic magic wielded by his betrothed may have wider spread consequences than they at first realized.

“It’s also traditional that you give me a ring.” She explained to him as they strolled, hand in hand, up towards the palace for breakfast.  Of all of the events that had transpired in the prior 24 hours that had given him joy, she believed that receiving assurance he was welcome to receive his meals at the palace ranked far too high on his list.

“What for?” He inquired curiously.

“It lets people know I’m spoken for.” 

“People know you’re spoken for.  I’m quite famous. Remember we had to flee from the photographers.”

“Well, yes, but it’s traditional.”

“And what do I get?”

“A bride.”

“Eventually but you get a ring now.  I don’t get anything to show that I’m betrothed?”

“Well, no.  Usually on Earth men don’t have to fend off so many suitors.”

He chuckled.  “That’s not my experience.  I get plenty of suitors.”

“You don’t fend them off though.” She remarked.

“Why would I do that?” He said it like a joke but it rang of truth.

“What I’m hearing is I’m not getting any kind of ring.” She pouted.

“Hmm.” He thought for a minute and reached up into his pocket and pulled out a large ring boasting a beautiful stone of honeyed amber.  Inside she saw a silhouette that looked like a little fairy, although he assured her it was just an insect on Asgard and not a fossilized fairy.

“It was mother’s.”

“When did you pinch it?”

“I didn’t pinch it, I inherited it.” He scoffed.

“Officially?”

“She would have wanted me to have it.” He said with confidence.

“There it is.”

“Well, Thor wouldn’t wear it.  Thor doesn’t appreciate beautiful, delicate things.”  He turned the ring over in his hands. “I suppose it’s a bit big for you now,” he remarked, waving his hand over the ring to resize it.

“Now that’s a cool trick,” she complimented.

“You should be able to do it now.”  He slid the ring onto the finger she indicated was the right one.  “Focus on making it fit your finger.” She looked at him incredulously for a moment but found he was right.  In fact, it came surprisingly easily. He smiled. “Thank goodness. I do not know how humans function having to carry clothing around in a bag and take it to a professional every time you gain or lose a few pounds or tear a seam.”

She giggled.  “I love it, it’s beautiful.  Do you think Frigga would like to see me with this?”

He placed a kiss on the ring.  “There’s nothing she would love more than to see you smile at that ring.”

When they reached the palace, it was uncharacteristically quiet.  In fact, they were not even greeted by a palace guard as they approached the front doors.  The automated doors recognized them as invited guests and opened for them even with no greeting.  They walked down the empty corridors towards the dining hall, taking note of the eerie silence echoing through the towering chambers.  For the first time since they started frequenting Wakanda, the tables were not set for breakfast and food was not laid out when they entered the hall.

She looked at him in horror.  “You don’t think that…”

“No.” He shook his head, only partially betraying a lack of confidence in his answer.  “No I’m sure everything is fine.”

Loki went over to the screen in the corner of the room and instructed it to call Shuri.  Shuri picked up, although she looked a bit harrowed.

“What is it villain?” She asked without looking up from her equipment.

“We thought we would check in, see how you are making out.  How’s the patient?”

“I’m fine.  Just a little swamped here.  Two of my lab assistants called in sick this morning.  It’s never on a good day is it?”

“Hard to find good help.  Can we be of assistance?” he offered.

“I doubt it, unless you can work my machines.  Your magic should not pass through this forcefield.  You could bring me some breakfast though.”

“I would but there’s none here.  Any suggestions on where to go get you something?”

“What do you meant there’s no breakfast?” Shuri was incredulous.

“That was my reaction.” He said.

“But you obviously don’t have time to worry about it Shuri, we will investigate.” Came a voice from behind him.

“It’s the least you could do while I clean up your wizard mess in here.  I barely left the lab all night. I need some coffee. Solve it will you?”  And the feed cut out.

“What a princess,” Loki remarked.  She cleared her throat loudly in response.  “That’s not what it’s like dealing with me.” He quipped.

“That’s exactly what it’s like dealing with you.  Come on, we need to dig up some grub.”

“I don’t want to know what that is and it sounds disgusting.”

“It’s colloquial for we need to scrounge ourselves some food.”

“Do us a favor and choose another expression?” he said, holding his stomach dramatically with one hand.  She rolled her eyes. For someone who had killed a lot of people he had delicate sensibilities. 

He fiddled with the panel a little bit longer until the door from the dining hall to the kitchen opened up.  On the other side of the door they found one member of the palace staff. Asleep at her post. As they approached her she stirred.  

“Sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was down for breakfast.  I must have fallen asleep, what time is it?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Loki replied, partially concealing his irritation.  “Something simple we can take up and share with Princess Shuri please, and she wanted coffee.”  The staff member nodded and began to enter the sequences into the automated kitchen system.

It occurred to his companion that none of that exchange had happened in English.

“Honeybear?” She asked him quietly while they waited.

“Darling?”

“Since when do I speak Xhosa?” 

“Since last night I’d imagine.  Allspeak is one of the gifts of the gods.”

“What a shame, I finally have years ahead of me to learn languages and I don’t need to.”  

He laughed and smiled at her.  “No, you can skip straight to enjoying more foreign literature.”  Damn. He did know her well, she thought.

“You two can head up to the lab, I’ll send a tray through the dumbwaiter that will be there when you arrive.”  Dumbwaiter undersold the elaborate system of ducts and tunnels that allowed the transportation of items seamlessly throughout the palace.  She suspected this was simply the translation her brain provided her. It got the concept across neatly enough.

When they arrived in the lab Shuri was busy at work and very nearly alone save one slow moving lab attendant.

“I don’t know where anyone is this morning of all mornings.  I have been too preoccupied tending to the wizard’s forcefield to analyze data showing mild seismic energy readings last night.”

“Seismic?” the goddess asked in all innocence.

“Not exactly but the energy behaved as a seismic wave did so that’s what I’m going with for now.  But much of my staff has called in sick along with some of the guards. I have some concerns that the two are related and no ability to look into it.”

She looked up momentarily at the guilty looks on the first fresh faces she had seen all day.  “You two wouldn’t know anything about this?” They shook their heads, not entirely convincingly.  “Oh thank goodness, I assume this coffee is mine?” She pointed to the tray that had appeared on the far wall.  After she took a long sip she looked at Loki. “Also on my list, I want to hear all about how you used dark matter as a means of transportation while the wizard phased.  It may help me if he needs further stabilization, although I have not used my equipment to access dark matter previously.”

At that moment, Thor entered the lab.  He looked relaxed with a broad grin on his face as he greeted his brother and would-be sister.  Shuri hit the button by the dumbwaiter. “Hey if you’re down there I’m going to need a lot more coffee.”  

“Me too, love that stuff.” Thor grinned.

The goddess sighed and resigned herself to spending her first day after ascension as a palace assistant.  “I’ll go make sure she’s awake.” She turned and walked downstairs before Loki had a chance to intervene.

Loki turned his attentions to his brother.  “You’re looking smug.”

“Can’t get much past you.” Thor grinned.

“Care to share?” Loki asked in a more hushed tone.

“Well, we should be quiet about it.  Last evening the guard assigned my hallway decided to pay me a personal call if you get my meaning.”

“It was difficult given your usual subtlety of expression brother but I think I can read between the lines.”

Thor grinned again.  “I think she was on duty.  I also think she’s T’Challa’s cousin.  So probably should keep quiet about it.”

“Most certainly.  Do you think it was noticed she abandoned her post?”

“I’m not sure.  Also she’s still in my room so there’s that.”

Loki raised an eyebrow.  “She’s quite all right I hope?”

“I assume so.  I didn’t hear any complaining.”  Now it was Loki’s turn to roll his eyes.  Thor clapped him on the shoulder. “I didn’t see her replacement come in this morning.  I thought the Wakandan guard was highly regimented. Is there some holiday we don’t know about?”

“Whatever you two are whispering about over there, if it concerns the use of dark matter can you come share it with me?” Shuri had finished her first coffee and was back at work at her equipment, collecting data on the wizard.

For his part, Dr. Strange continued to float relatively inertly in Shuri’s forcefield.  As she had said, his phasing had significantly slowed down and he appeared to be in a deep slumber.  The only thing moving around in the forcefield was his signature cape which had wrapped itself protectively around him but appeared to move occasionally at the corners as though it was keeping watch.  

Loki suspected that any trace of the Asgardian magic the wizard had sought to access would leave his body within a couple of weeks.  He almost felt pity for the wizard who had held the strength of Asgard in his the palms of hands only to misuse it in his zeal.

At that moment, his beloved walked through the door with General Okoye.  The two were sharing a private smile over their coffees. It was strange to see Okoye out of uniform as she approached the princess.

“They’re sending you up more coffee and breakfast for everyone.  I was off duty today and truth be told I would rather I had stayed in bed, but a number of my guard called out.  I may need to put on my uniform princess. But I need a moment with my coffee first.”

“That’s fine General.  We do have three gods here who I’m sure will leap to Wakanda’s defense in exchange for all the food we have fed them, isn’t that right?” She said without looking over.

“Absolutely.” Thor said without hesitation, rubbing his hands together.  “I feel great, where’s the fight?”

Okoye shook her head and sipped her coffee.  “No fight, thank goodness. Other than I need to figure out what’s going around Wakanda that my guards would call out sick like this.”

Loki beckoned to his beloved for her to join him back in what was becoming his whisper corner.  “Why is Okoye not fit for duty this morning?”

“That’s private, she confided in me.  I’ll tell you later.”

“I think perhaps I should know now.” Loki pressed.

“It’s nothing major.  Let’s just say she found witnessing our engagement more romantic than she first realized.”

Loki glanced to either side.  “Okoye is married?”

“Yes, to a prince of the border tribe.  M’Kabi.”

“And you’re saying last night, they,” Loki whispered.

“Shhh, that’s personal.” She chided him.

“We...ah...there may be...the thing is.”

“Loki, what is it?”  He managed to explain to her what Thor had said previously without betraying his confidences.

“You don’t think…Nah.  Nah.” She shook her head.

“You’ve drawn the same conclusion I have.  It can’t be a coincidence.”

“Nah.  That’s crazy.”

“You are an empath.  It’s probably your fault.” He looked at her.

“Hey now,” but before she had the chance to respond, she was interrupted by Shuri’s accusatory voice.

“You two have 30 seconds to explain whether the energy wave coming from your cottage last night has anything to do with why my staff called in sick this morning.”

Times like this she found it best to let Loki do the talking.  It’s what he’s for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three serious cliffhangers in a row, time for a mood lightener. ;)  
> Thanks for all the reads and shares. <3


	14. Therapy Hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an eventful few days, Loki is still picking fights he doesn't need to and Thor wants to understand why.

“It’s too late to take it back now.”  Loki stood shirtless and barefoot in the training yard adjacent to the palace, the dirt of the yard coarse on the soles of his feet as he perched like a cat ready to pounce.  Across from him stood one of the only men in Wakanda taller than him, similarly poised for a fight with a broad grin on his face.

“Loki please don’t kill him,” came Thor’s voice from the small crowd of people who had left the palace conference room to come to the training yard to witness the spectacle.  T’Challa and Nakia were not part of this crowd. The dispute they found childish. Because it was.

“And why would I take it back?  You only got more puny when your shirt came off.”  

The conflict between them had escalated rather quickly during the private meeting among the chiefs of the different tribes to assess whether the prior evening’s shockwave had caused any damage.  Other than an unusually high truancy rate at people’s posts, complaints had not been reported. Quite the opposite.

M’Baku, who had arrived late to the meeting himself, did not hide that he found the whole situation hilarious and showed this by making excessively rude jokes at Loki’s expense that are not suitable for reprint.  But the sticking point for Loki, who had otherwise developed some tolerance level for taunts, was that M’Baku wouldn’t stop calling him puny. The more his jests seemed to rile Loki up, the more he made them.

Until they found themselves in the training yard.  Ready to brawl.

M’Baku stood before him, cocky, inviting Loki to take the first strike, his feet apart in a ready stance.  But it didn’t matter. The scowl on Loki’s face turned to resolve as he arched almost like a cat preparing to pounce.  Loki leapt forward with enough force to not only knock M’Baku down but to send them both flying fifteen feet backwards. M’Baku laughed as he gave the signal that he would yield.

“I thought you would at least toy with me for a bit.  Feel better?”

Loki stood up and looked at him aghast.  “You knew I would win?”

“I’m not a fool.  I saw the footage of you fighting Captain America and Thor.  I knew you would flatten me.”

“Then why on earth did you accept my challenge?”

“I thought it would be fun.  Wakanda’s doctors can repair a rib or two no problem, although,” he checked himself before going to stand up, “I think I’m just bruised.  But also you seemed like you needed a good fight. Shame I didn’t give you one. So tell me. Why were you so bothered by my jests? You seem like you should be a tough man to upset.”

“You kept calling me puny.”

“And?”

“And.  Well. That insult holds particular pain for me.”

“Why?”

It took some coaxing but Loki confessed to the small gathered crowd the truth of his past.  That as an infant, he had been abandoned for being a runt.

“So.  When I call you puny.  You do not hear a fellow warrior engaged in playful jest, the morning after you clearly had a good night.  You hear a chief of Wakanda calling you a runt.”

“I suppose.”

M’Baku gave Loki a half-hearted clap on the shoulder because he really was sore.  “I understand. It won’t happen again.”

“You won’t insult me again?”

“I absolutely will, pasty.  I just won’t call you puny.”  His laugh was a little less hardy as he made his way to the palace infirmary, but he went on his own power.  A weaker man may have struggled more with such a hit.

“Honestly Loki, every time I think you’ve got yourself sorted out.” Thor shook his head.

“I am who I am.  Don’t take my things or call me small,”  Loki said, dusting the dirt off of himself and shaking out his hair.

“You’re betrothed to an empathic goddess.  Surely she helps you control your feelings.”

Loki chuckled to himself.  “Almost constantly.”

“And still you hide weapons and set traps and pick fights over petty insults.”

Loki looked at him peculiarly and held out both his hands.  “Thor, you do realize that a relationship doesn’t fix you, right?  I’m still me. I will always be the silver tongued god of tricks. I will always bear the scars of growing up in your shadow.  No amount of empathic magic erases that. It’s just,” and he looked over at his beloved where she was talking with Shuri on a balcony overlooking the fighting yard, “easier to withstand.”

“Loki that was positively insightful.”

“I’m full of wisdom.  I may start charging for it.”

“Can we talk about why you had a hidden infinity stone in your pocket?”

“I acquired it, there was never an occasion to surrender it.  What else is there to tell?”

Thor sighed.  “Acquired it from?  Anyone I should be worried is going to come after you and then slaughter half the people I know?”

Loki smiled.  “Remember on Sakaar when I told you I had placed a wager on your fight with Hulk?”

Thor looked at him.  “That fight was rigged, and who would have bet an infinity stone that Hulk would lose?”

“No one else wagered that you would last two minutes, I wagered that you would survive.”

“You bet in my favor?  You told me you bet against me.”  

Loki shrugged.  “I lied to you. My wager may have changed if I’d known who it was.”  

“Who had the stone?”

“Someone who didn’t know its value.  And who was quite drunk.”

“I’m going to leave soon to take it very far away.  Don’t get married till I’m back.”

As usual Loki read between the lines of his brother’s remark.  “We are not having an Asgardian bachelor party. There wouldn’t be any survivors.”

“We are absolutely having an Asgardian bachelor party.  We will reunite the Revengers.”

“Brunhilde isn’t eligible for,” but he stopped himself mid-sentence, “you have a point.”

“Right?”

“Fine.  But only because I want to see a girl best you at feats of strength.”

“Done.”  Thor swung his hammer and launched himself into space.


	15. Revengers Reunion

“So, your wedding will be here in Wakanda yes?” Shuri asked eagerly as the pair strolled to the lab to check on Dr. Strange.

“I think if we did that the prime minister of Norway would jump off a cliff,” the goddess replied sheepishly, “although we’ve spent so much more time here with you.”

Shuri nodded.  “I understand. We’ve never had foreigners wed here anyway so I’m not sure what the protocol would be.  My understanding of how your weddings work comes entirely from watching Hollywood films.”

“I mean, pretty close, other than people objecting.  I’ve never heard of anyone actually objecting and it would be really rude to wait till the vows before telling someone you don’t think they should get married.”

“That’s a relief.  I had thought American’s weddings were so dramatic with fighting and screaming and people running off with the bride. It seemed quite barbaric to me.”

She laughed.  “Ha. No. They’re usually sweet.  Sometimes a little boring. The wedding is short with a long party afterwards.”

“Ah,” Shuri responded, “it is this way in Wakanda.  I keep my mouth shut during the ceremony and in exchange I’m allowed to attend the party.  Now I am finally old enough to fully participate. Can you imagine they let me run my lab before they let me share a drink with the new couple?”

She could imagine it but kept her mouth shut.  Being smart and being grown up are not the same thing.  

“Any other festivities?” Shuri probed.

“It sounds like Loki is going to have an Asgardian bachelor party.”

“Interesting, what does that entail?” 

“Danger apparently.  Although how dangerous I think they’re exaggerating.  They promise me the fatality rate is low.”

“Do you get a party as well?”

“Um,” the goddess blushed a little bit, “I haven’t really kept up with my friends from my old life very well.  Truth be told I wasn’t that close to any of them. It’s funny that I’m a writer and an empath without friends. I observe human nature from the outside more than I participate.”

“So you would get a party if you had anyone to have a party with?”

“I guess so.  American style bachelorettes are a bit rowdy for me though anyway.”

“Well, I am your friend, we can have a party here in the palace.”

“Oh Shuri, I couldn’t ask you to do that.  Besides you’re so young. What are you, 20?”

“I’m old enough to throw a party.”

“Have you thrown parties?”

“No but someone around here has who can help me.” Shuri smiled.  “It won’t be rowdy at all I promise.”

They reached Shuri’s lab.  Doctor Strange had stopped phasing and Shuri had released him from the force field.  Instead he laid on a slab in their infirmary. His loyal cloak stood guard over him.

“Are you ready to wake him?” Shuri asked some of the surrounding team.  They nodded that they thought it might be safe. “Proceed then,” she ordered.  

“Doctor, are you with us?”  The empath sensed a wave of confusion and nausea overtaking him as he slowly came to consciousness after nearly a week of slumber.  

“Where am I?” He asked drowsily.

“You’re in Wakanda.  Do you remember how you got here?”

He sighed.  “Yes, it’s coming back to me now.  I’ve spent the last week phasing in and out of this realm.”

“Just under a week yes.  Can you tell us where you went?”

“A number of places I’d been before.  The mirror dimension. Occasionally the dark dimension.  And a number of times I popped into the gateway to Valhalla.”

“The gateway?” the goddess asked.

“I wasn’t allowed entrance.  An old man who I assume was Odin told me I hadn’t been invited.  I’d never needed an invitation to go to a dimension before.”

“How are you feeling?” Shuri asked.

“Honestly a little embarrassed.” The empath confirmed to herself that this was the truth.  “I’m not sure what came over me. I had intended to bring the potion back to the sanctum but when I held it in my hand and saw its power...well, you know what happened.”

“Yes I do.” She looked at him poignantly.  “Your decision cost me my life.”

He looked over at her in confusion.  “You don’t seem dead to me.”

“No.  The death of my human form completed my ascension as an Asgardian.  Fortunately for you.”

“I have a vague recollection of that.  How did Loki transport me here exactly?”

Shuri was about to explain when the goddess said “All you need to know is he did it without killing you.  You have me and Thor to thank for that.”

“My undying gratitude,” he said with some sarcasm.  “Tell me, why didn’t the potion do the same thing to you that it did to me?  Was it because you were invited to Valhalla?”

“No, it’s because you drank a month’s worth of doses in on slug.”

His eyes grew wide.  “That tiny vial? That’s potent magic.”

“Well, it’s gone now.  And I doubt that any more will be made in your lifetime.”

“What a shame.  That’s magic I would not mind possessing.” Strange had remained reclined but started making efforts to sit up.

“Doctor I would like to ask you more questions about your phasing as part of the data I have collected during your time here,” Shuri began pulling up a large holographic spreadsheet when she was interrupted by a familiar looking circle of orange sparks.  From the circle emerged a pleasant but serious looking man in wizard’s robes.

“Thank you for caring for him, but we will take it from here.”

Shuri looked astonished that someone had broken into her lab.  “I’m afraid that’s out of the question, this is my lab and he is in no shape to travel.  Who are you?”

Doctor Strange spoke up.  “This is Wong, second in command at the New York sanctum.”  Wong nodded his assent.

“I did not come here to ask.  I will supervise his recovery.”  No one had noticed the wizard’s cloak had slipped between him and his slab until suddenly he was levitating a few inches in the air.  In the blink of an eye, he was whisked through the orange circle by the cloak. Wong stepped through just behind him and the whole thing vanished before their eyes.  A slip of paper fell from the circle as it closed behind him. Shuri picked it up.

“Thanks again,” she read before crumpling the paper into a ball.  “We take care of him for nearly a week after his actions jeopardized the safety of Wakanda and he leaves a two word thank you note behind him as he makes off with my data.  The audacity of white people sometimes.” The goddess did not think now was a good time to point out that Wong wasn’t white.

“Strange wasn’t your prisoner though, he was free to go.” She thought a second before adding, “right?”

Shuri sighed.  “No, he was not my prisoner.  But I think some more gratitude is in order since I had to recalibrate my containment field to help slow his rate of phasing.  If you will excuse me, I have promised to share my research with Pym and the Van Dynes and my research has apparently now concluded.”  There was a special emphasis on the word “apparently” that indicated Shuri had expected to be gathering a good bit more data.

She thought this was the best time to make her exit.  She found her escort outside parting company with King T’Challa.

“I am told my bachelor party will commence in two weeks time.  Thor has found a suitable uninhabited island off the coast.”

“Should I expect you to survive or will I be a widow before my wedding?”

He put his hands behind his back and strutted regally beside her as they walked back towards their cottage.  “Reports of the dangers are greatly exaggerated but I am to return a man, truly grown and ready to wed.”

“At your age?  You’re only hundreds of years old.”

“And yet the mysteries of life are ahead of us, I’m promised,” he leaned in and said.

“I hate to break it to you but I think we’ve spoiled that one.” He chuckled.  “Listen,” she continued, “I need to ask you something.” He looked down at her inquisitively.  “As a side effect of becoming a god through sorcery instead of birth. Not that I think there’s anything, not that you’ve ever been.” She trailed off.

He stopped and turned around to face her.  “Not that I’m what?”

“Mad.” 

He laughed. “I certainly am.  Why do you ask?”

“The other day.  I heard a voice in my head.”

“Yes.”

“A woman.  It was clear, in the back of my mind.  She said ‘please let this be the one,’ although I think it was in Xhosa.”

“Ah.  That was quick.”

“What was quick?”

He resumed his grandiose stroll.  “The gods of Valhalla have always shared a peculiar connection to the humans of Midgard.  The humans relish our touch. And we can hear their prayers.”

“Prayers?”

“It sounds like you’ve heard your first.”

“Oh.  Well, should I do something about it?”

“If you want.”

“Oh.  Um, ok.”  There was a pause as they kept walking together.  “I don’t know who she was or what she was asking for though.”

“Therein lies the problem.  I don’t know what sort of God you believed in when you were human, but we on Asgard aren’t omniscient.”

“Do you learn to interpret them or tune them out?”

“A little of both.  Although if word gets out that we can perform a fertility ritual, I imagine you may need to brace yourself for a surge of them.”

“Great.”

“Sorry.  Fertility goddesses tend to go a bit mad for this reason.”

“And what do people pray to you for?”

“Lately not much.  It’s been my strategy to keep them to a minimum.  Usually if I decide to answer a prayer there’s a catch.  A quid pro quo. I only get the really desperate ones anymore.”  

He smiled as if he was joking, but for once she was confident he wasn’t.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m not going to unleash the Hulk just for a bachelor party.”

The small plane had landed on the uninhabited island that Thor had chosen just for the occasion.  Valkyrie, Bruce, Thor and Loki were preparing to disembark as Thor had begun to lay out the plans for the afternoon.

“Bruce, the feats to be accomplished will be impossible for you to do unless you bring Hulk.”

“Were you inviting me to the party or just him?” Bruce sounded betrayed.

“You’re both invited!  You’re invited for the plane ride over and breakfast in the morning.  Hulk is invited to the rest of it.” Thor explained with a smile.

“That’s the whole party.  No, I want to be here, I want to see what happens at an Asgardian bachelor party.”

“I have to warn you, it’s not going to be the full experience.  I’m doing my best to replicate the hazards but it won’t be the same.”

“Thor, are you the only one of us who’s actually been to an Asgardian bachelor party?” Valkyrie quipped while she took a swig from a large flask.

“Hey,” Loki said, clearly taking offense.

“Actually Loki got invited to a great many back on Asgard.” Thor added.

“Really?” Valkyrie laughed.  “Why is one of the feats sending someone skinny down a pipe or something?”

“Well aren’t we off to a great start.” Loki was already sulking which was oddly fitting for a party in his honor.

“Brunhilde I’ve barely seen you since we reached Midgard, how have you been?” Thor asked, changing the subject.

“I’ve been amazing.  I have one of these little boxes yeah,” she held up a smart phone, “you can look through pictures of people and if you choose it they go on a date with you.”

Bruce looked at her incredulously.  “I don’t think those apps work that way, did you find an escort service or something?”

“No, dating apps work that way.  You swipe someone and they go on a date with you.”

“Everyone you’ve swiped has gone on a date with you?” Bruce asked.  She nodded, taking another swig. He shook his head. “I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

“Shall we commence?” Thor boomed, taking a place facing the other three with his bare arms crossed.  Met with three relatively blank stares he began reciting his script. “I am told one among you seeks to prove he is man enough to wed.  Who is here to declare it so?”

Loki gave a half-hearted little wave.

“Who is here to declare it so?” Thor said, louder in his most kingly voice.

Loki sighed.  “I am.”

“Declare the brave warriors who are to accompany you on your quest to manhood.”

“Thor, there’s no one here but you three.”

“Loki, please, this may be the only one I ever get to do as king of Asgard.”

“It’s a little unprecedented for the king to be one of the warriors.” Loki scoffed.

“All of this is unprecedented, come on, let’s start again.  Declare the brave warriors who are,”

“Thor, Brunhilde and Bruce here.” He waved his hand in their direction.

“Then leave here welp with the gathered company and return henceforth tomorrow a man, worthy and ready to wed the fair maiden.” Thor looked exceedingly pleased with himself.

“Leave where, this is a small island.”

“It’s just an expression Loki, can you please be a good sport.”

“When have I ever been a good sport?” Loki smirked.

“So, when do we start? I’m excited, I’ve heard stories but never attended one of these.” Valkyrie wiped her mouth and put her flask back in its holster at her side-arm.

“Right now!” Thor exclaimed excitedly.  “Behold, our first task. The slaying of the great beast!”  He pulled out a remote control and lowered the cargo bay door on the plane.  A long scaled snout tentatively poked its nose out of the opening.

“Thor that’s a twelve foot crocodile!” Bruce exclaimed, leaping behind Valkyrie for safety.  She chuckled as she walked closer to inspect the beast.

“I know it’s small but it’s the biggest thing anyone would let me ship here on short notice.  But exercise caution friends! Its jaws have the strength of fifty men as they close and it will eat you…” Thor was interrupted.

“Thor we can’t kill that, it’s endangered.”

“What?”

“I think that’s an endangered species, we can’t slay that.  Who gave you this?” Bruce asked, still skulking in the back.

“A zoo.  But what will we eat if we can’t slay this?”

“There doesn’t look to be much meat on it at any rate,” Loki said with a little disdain, keeping his distance.

“I didn’t know what an Asgardian bachelor party involved so I brought some hamburger patties and tater tots in one of the coolers that’s on the plane.” Bruce offered nervously.

“What’s a hamburger?” Loki asked.

“It’s like a round patty of meat that you eat on a bun, like a bread roll.  I brought those too.” Bruce used his hands to indicate how a hamburger was made to the gathered company.

“Why is it round?” Loki asked.

“Well, the meat is ground up and then shaped into a circle so it fits on the bread.” Bruce never thought this was a concept he would have to explain to someone.

“With the bones and everything?” Loki looked disgusted.

“No the bones are taken out I’m pretty sure.”  Loki put his hand on his stomach in anticipation of being sick.  “They’re really good I promise, better than crocodile.” Bruce reassured him.

Thor clapped Bruce on the shoulder.  “I’m sure they’ll be great. Thank you Bruce for your thoughtful offering to the party.  Okay, if we can’t slay the beast, we at least need to capture it without falling prey to its mighty jaws which…” he was interrupted again.

“Got it.” Valkyrie called out.  The men looked over and indeed she was sitting astride the crocodile whose jaws she had tied shut with a rope.  No one asked where the rope came from.

“Oh, okay.” Thor tried to hide his disappointment.  “Victory then on this, the first stage of our quest!”  He held his hands up triumphantly.

“I feel more a man already.” Loki declared entirely deadpan.

“Please Loki,” Thor loudly whispered to his ungrateful brother.

“I am just waiting for the good part.” Loki returned, not bothering to whisper.  “What’s next.”

“Well, the feats of strength I had planned were to pit myself and Loki against Brunhilde and the Hulk.” Thor rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully.

“I’ll take on you both myself, I don’t need him.” Valkyrie retorted, having gotten her drink back out, still astride the crocodile.

“Um, I’m not sure,” Thor waffled as Valkyrie jumped up, hoisted the crocodile back in the cargo hold, and jumped to her feet, punching pugilistically while dancing from foot to foot.  

“What’s the game then?” she asked, still on her toes.  Thor went to the plane and came back out with a large, thick chain that he laid on the ground.  

“First, we simply try to pull each other off our feet on this chain.  Let’s see if we can get an even fight with some division of the three of us.”  He and Loki went to one side of the chain at Valkyrie’s direction and she went to the other, spitting on each hand before she picked up her end of the chain with a smile.  Loki and Thor picked up the other end. Bruce stood back.

“Bruce, count us down.”

“Okay.  On the count of three.  One, two,” but Valkyrie gave the chain a yank before they reached three.  Loki and Thor were holding on tightly enough that they stumbled forward without falling and started to pull back.  After only a few seconds, the chain which was iron and thicker than an average man’s wrist, a chain often used to tow ships to port, snapped in two.

Thor looked disappointed again.  “This was the strongest chain I could find on Midgard.”

“No matter, what’s the next feat of strength?” Valkyrie asked.

“All the ones I had planned involved that chain.” Thor sighed and sat down defeated on a nearby rock.  “I’m sorry Loki, this is turning out to be a bust so far.”

“It’s okay, it’s just in keeping with my entire life to date.  An endless string of disappointments.” He patted his brother gently on the shoulder.

“Loki.” Thor glared.

“Surely there’s something else we can do,” Bruce chimed in.

“Well, usually after the feats of strength we would roast the beast we had slain and then sit around the fire all night telling tales of our glorious victories in battle and getting completely drunk.” Thor said discouraged.

“Why don’t we skip straight to that part, I’ll get the hamburgers.” Bruce walked back towards the plane.

“I’m sorry Loki, I should have planned better.”

Loki smiled.  “I’ll go help Bruce.”  Bruce was, at that moment, trying to pull two coolers side by side to the edge of the stairs coming down from the plane as Loki rushed up and lifted one.  Valkyrie went and grabbed the other. Bruce got back on the plane and came out with a little pack that had a bed roll and a sleeping bag attached to the bottom of it.

As Thor went out to grab a log that was the better part of an entire tree to get the campfire started, he looked back at his brother who was eagerly arranging stones to serve as seats and a fire pit.  He smiled to himself. The stories were always Loki’s favorite part of these parties. This was hardly the first time Loki had cut short athletic activities to tell stories instead.

Valkyrie and Bruce saw why it was that Loki got so many bachelor party invitations as they began to tell their battle stories over their roasting ground meat patties.  As Valkyrie began her first tale, the image of a little white pegasus leapt over the fire. She gasped for a second and looked at Loki who smiled and motioned for her to continue.  Her tale of the Valkyrie was accompanied throughout by vivid images of clanging swords and winged horses, swirling around their campsite, as the group felt entirely immersed in the battle.  Each of their stories was brought to life this way through a series of illusions and sounds improvised by the trickster.

He saved his own stories for last.  It was his party after all.

Nearly life sized, he wove the tale of the time he and his brother traveled to Jotunheim and fought a whole army of frost giants before Odin came to intervene.  And the time they slew the dark elves who had killed their mother trying to steal the reality stone. When everyone was good and drunk, he retold the glorious tale of the Revengers and their epic battle that culminated in Ragnarok.

“Wow, it’s almost like I was really there,” Bruce said, looking around at the illusions that surrounded them.

“You were really there,” Valkyrie slurred to him, taking another swig from her third bottle of straight whiskey.

“Oh yeah.  Gimme a break I’ve had like three and a half beers.”

Usually at such a party the group would have stayed up until the dawn, but since they had started drinking before noon, one by one they dozed off as the night progressed.  Bruce, still in human form, was the first to fall asleep on his carefully arranged bed roll inside his sleeping bag. He had even brought a pillow. Thor and Valkyrie had not bothered to set out bedding, both falling asleep with their heads on the rocks that had previously served as their seats, as cozy on stones as they would have been in feather beds.

Loki, who had conjured for himself a simple futon-like mat, laid down last, wrapping up his story as he sensed his brother finally dozing off.  As he drifted off to sleep, he drifted even further into the Odinsleep and found himself feeling entirely sober, despite all he had to drink, in the grand palace of Valhalla.


	16. Midgard and Valhalla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and his bride both begin to learn just how fundamental the connection is between Asgard and Earth.

Back in Wakanda, a far more dignified gathering was in progress.  When Shuri promised it would not be rowdy, she was not kidding. The gathering was a small group of women in a parlor at the palace, sipping tea and enjoying simple hors d'oeuvres and making quiet conversation.  She didn’t really know most of the guests at her own party and spent the first few minutes in a corner with Shuri. She sensed a fair amount of excitement in the room but it wasn’t reflected in the faces of the guests.

“Shuri,” she said under her breath, “are we the only ones drinking?”

“No, look everyone has a drink.  I haven’t hosted parties before but I made sure there were plenty of,”

“I mean are we the only ones drinking alcohol.”

“Ah.  Yes.” Shuri took a sip of her drink and looked around.

“Why?  Wakanda isn’t a teetotaling culture right?”

“Um, no.  We have drinks here.  Good ones.” Shuri held up her glass.  Shuri waited a moment and buckled under the silence.  “These women all discovered they’re pregnant in the last few days.”

“Oh.  Wow.” She paused and took a heavy gulp from her own beverage.  “Did...were.”

“Yes.  They all got pregnant that night probably.  Actually the data I’ve been gathering on this has been very,”

“Of course you’ve been gathering data on this.  Oh my god I’m going to be sick.”

“You’re not pregnant too are you?” Shuri asked excitedly.

“No.  I checked actually.”

“Too bad.  Anyway as I was saying, the data I’ve collected so far,”

“Did these women want to be pregnant?” she asked, looking around nervously.

“Yes if you’ll let me finish.  So far I’m not getting reports of rampant unwanted pregnancies although the phenomenon, we’re calling it the phenomenon, was fairly widespread and included all variety of couples.”

“Well that’s a relief.  So you don’t know if there’s a relationship between the phenomenon and fertility rates, it could just be that…”

“No, that’s the thing.  There is such a relationship.  Look, I’ll show you. Nez, come here.” Shuri beckoned to a shy looking petite woman with big eyes.  “Nez, tell her what you told me.” Shuri said with the big smile of unashamed youth.

“Oh.  Um, hi.  I’m Nez. Congratulations on your wedding and thank you for having me to this party.”

“Yes yes yes, introductions, of course, sorry.  Nez, it’s okay, you can tell her. How long were you trying.”

The woman who had been introduced as Nez looked down at her shoes.  “For four years, every month I said to myself. Please let this be the one.  We tried technological solutions, but, nothing worked. I know it’s early. Long road ahead.  But this is the furthest we’ve gotten down it. Anyway. Thank you.”

As she listened, she sensed a lot of anxiety in Nez.  She was afraid. Nez knew how precarious the new life was inside her she had sought so long.  The empath mumbled “you’re welcome,” as she employed her magic to ease Nez’s anxiety and realized that she had heard this voice before.

“I have been gathering data and so far it appears to be like this.  Those within the zone of the phenomenon who were trying to conceive were successful.  Would you like to know the radius and,”

“Not now, thanks.  But I’m happy for everyone who got what they wanted.”  She feigned a faint smile. She was happy for the people but remembered what Loki had said.  Having the power to do something people want would put her in demand. 

But not in demand for long.  She was also coming to the realization that they wouldn’t be able to stay in one place for more than a few days unless they figured out how the powers worked.  Their days of long luxurious palace visits were over.

She hoped her betrothed was having a less eventful and more relaxing celebration.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Loki had not found himself alone in the halls of Valhalla previously.  He had not pulled himself to Valhalla so he was surprised not to be greeted by whomever had brought him to the Odinsleep.  A torch was mounted on the wall beside him. He didn’t take the torch, however, choosing instead to pick up the flame itself.  He swirled his fingers over it and then tossed it in the air like a ball. Soon, the entire hall was flooded with daylight.

At least some of his tricks worked in Valhalla, he thought smugly to himself. He looked around the room where he had arrived.  He had to admit, the halls of Valhalla made the palace of Asgard look paltry by comparison. 

Much like the throne room of Asgard, only grander and more vivid, this room boasted enormous murals across the ceiling and all around the walls.  Images of gods he surmised from context were the ancestors of Thor and Odin he had read about, riding chariots through the night sky and fighting great battles.  Pegasus mounted Valkyrie were scattered throughout these murals, flying into battle with their swords and spears ahead of them. He marveled at the secrets that had been kept from him his entire life, including that these cavalry had at one time been led by Odin’s true first born Hela.

He wondered what other secrets remained to be uncovered.  He had discovered only weeks ago that there must be at least one.

He walked through an open vaulted doorway into the next room.  The images in here came from a more familiar era. He saw Odin and Hela depicted conquering the nine realms, their weapons being forged in Nidavellir by the great dwarves.  The fall of the Valkyrie. The birth of Thor and the creation of Mjolnir.

Then, to his surprise, he saw himself.  He saw his deeds and tricks throughout the centuries, his shining horns, flowing cape, and mischievous smile.  And in every panel that featured himself, he saw Thor. In every panel with Thor, he saw himself. Even here in the halls of Valhalla, they could not escape each other.  Black swirling clouds of shadow swirled around his images in his deep emerald garb, juxtaposed against the beaming gold surrounding those of Thor’s red cape. Side by side or across from each other, it was all the same in picture after picture.  The yin and the yang. The darkness and the light. As inseparable as they are different.

At the end of the room, he saw Ragnarok.  Himself, Thor, Valkyrie, Heimdall, Hela, Surtur, Skurge, even Hulk, depicted in glorious battle on the bridge to the bifrost.  He flattered himself that he did justice to this scene with his retelling illusions and wondered who might be the artist behind the drawings.

“They appear as they happen and are strengthened and embellished by the legends of their retelling,” came a booming voice from the next room over.  “They glowed brightly tonight as that human Bruce listened to your every word. I know there were those on Asgard who thought the stories were the least critical part of our coming of age ceremonies, but actually,” Odin came out of the darkness and into the doorway, “the stories are all we are.  Hello son.”

“Father, what are these halls?”

“These halls form with each new era of Asgard.  The last era ended with Ragnarok.” Odin beckoned for Loki to follow him into the next room.  “Our strength in Valhalla comes from the belief of the citizens of the realms in us and our power to protect them, serve them, help them.  Right now on Midgard, your betrothed is learning that this comes with a cost. We are as subject to their requests as they are to our powers.”

Loki looked at the murals in the room they were in.  At the beginning was the conflict with Thanos. For the first time, Loki and Thor’s paths in the murals parted.  Instead of the black and gold backdrops behind them, these murals glowed with the colors of the stones of the universe.  Almost surreal colored images depicted Thor absorbing the heat of a dying star to restart the forge at Nidavellir and Loki using the power of the stones.  Then the murals clarified again, in stark realism showing them reuniting on Midgard, side by side as they performed their great deeds in America, Norway and Wakanda.  

At the end of the room, Loki saw a depiction of events from only weeks earlier: the wizard stealing his elixir, the ascension of the goddess he had created and the discovery of their fertility magic.  Surrounding these images were what appeared to be children, but these drawings were still in the sketch stage.

“That’s the end?” Loki asked.

“That’s the beginning.  The halls grow as stories are told to fill them.  So what falls to you Loki,”

“Is to go out there and create more stories for the humans to tell.”  Loki smiled in Odin’s presence for the first time in years, if not decades.

“Something you’ve always excelled at my boy.” Odin patted his shoulder approvingly.  Another gesture that had been a long time coming.

Loki paused dramatically.  “I do have one big question.”

Odin nodded.  “I know. We thought it best that you and Thor not know the truth.  I think perhaps I was wrong about that.”

Loki turned to him aghast.  “Perhaps?”

“The period of animosity that followed your discovery of your true birth was relatively brief all things considered.  Who knows what would have been different if you had grown up knowing all along?” Odin said as if from on high, as usual.

“I certainly don’t know and never will.  But now that I know how the magic works, how a god is forged.  Why don’t I remember dying?”

“In the spine of your mother’s diary are two memory strands.  You’ll know which one is which. Congratulations on your betrothal my son.”  

As he said his congratulations, the image of the hall faded into blackness.  Loki sat up bolt upright on his mat and looked around. Faint smoke tickled his nose.  The embers of the dying fire still crackled near his feet casting a dim light on his companions as they drunkenly slept with the memories of his stories fueling their dreams as they fueled the halls of Valhalla.  

Loki stoked the fire back up with a little wave of his hand and laid back down.  He gazed up at the night sky, focusing as he always did from Midgard on the bright star named in his honor by the ancient Norwegians. Even before he learned the truth that he was not born of Asgard, he had always doubted his place.  He had sought time and time again to prove himself to his father, his brother, and his peers but he had never believed he had succeeded. Seeing his own face emblazoning the walls of Valhalla surely should cure all his remaining doubts, he mused.  

But that was coupled with the knowledge that what powered his presence there were his stories.  The good, and the bad. Stories he would not always be around to tell himself. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought about what he could do to ensure that there would always be more to tell.


	17. Where to next?

“So, how old do Asgardians usually get married anyway?”

Bruce and Loki sat poking at the fire while Thor and Valkyrie were off rummaging on their plane for something to cook for breakfast.  Bruce was looking a little rough as he hugged his sleeping bag around his shoulders and gingerly sipped his instant coffee from a reused beer can.  Loki thought to himself that he had seen more glamorous gatherings in the gladiatorial pits of Sakaar.

“Well, as you can imagine with a people who can live thousands of years, there’s great variety.  Asgardians reach maturity by around fifty. Some people are very keen and marry before their hundredth year, but if they live for another two thousand, well that’s a very long time to spend with someone.”  The questions were impertinent but Loki enjoyed the opportunity to wax poetic about his lost homeworld.

“That makes sense.  Are you young or old to be getting married then?”

“Honestly I have no idea.  Not everyone on Asgard is a god.  And I’m a god made from parts like Frankenstein’s monster.  I don’t know my lifespan. I don’t know when Odin first got married.  I didn’t even know he had a wife before mother until quite recently, that secret was kept from me for centuries.”

The personal turn took Bruce for a bit of a loop.  Feelings were not his specialty. Especially not the feelings of someone Hulk had smashed.

“Oh.  Um, wow that’s.  Do you want to, um, do you want to talk about that or,” Bruce stammered.

“Absolutely not," came Loki's deepest and most authoritative voice, without making eye contact.

“Thank god.” Bruce said, relieved.

“You’re welcome.” Loki smiled as he took a sip of his own instant coffee.  After tasting it, he vowed it would be his last

“We can eat ship rations or we can fly to the mainland and eat at this place that,” Thor announced from halfway down the stairs.

“Yes,” said Bruce and the guest of honor as they stood up in unison.  Bruce promptly scuttled to the plane with his sleeping bag still wrapped around his shoulders, holding his pack.

“I’m sorry this didn’t turn out the way I had planned Loki.” Thor came over and patted his shoulder as Loki finished dousing out the campfire.  “You deserved better from me.”

“You know brother, actually.” Loki looked over at him with a smile, “It might have been just perfect.”

“You really mean that?” Thor smiled tentatively.  “Because we got to tell stories all day?”

“And because I got to see you fail at something.” Loki patted Thor’s shoulder in return.

“There it is.  Some things never change.”

“And never will.”  Loki looked at him meaningfully.

“I don’t know if I should be honored or angry.” Thor paused thoughtfully.

“Both.” Loki said.  He paused a moment. “I had a vision of Odin last night.”

“That seems fitting, maybe that’s what’s supposed to happen after the party!”

“I don’t think every last Asgardian groom gets visions of Valhalla after his bachelor party.  Anyway, did you know the halls there are adorned with etchings of our deeds and antics?”

“Yeah?  Do I look cool?” Thor flexed his muscles and winked.

“You look about how you always do.”

“So cool then.”  Thor grinned.

“Not the reaction I was expecting from your image is emblazoned on the ceilings of the afterlife.”

“Don’t get me wrong.  I’m very honored. And you said ‘our’ deeds?  You’re there too?”

“You and I are side by side in every drawing.”

“In Valhalla.  So you’re saying we will literally never get away from each other, even in death.”  Thor said, bemused.

“So it would seem.”

Thor smiled.  “I can think of worse fates brother.”

Loki concealed a smile.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I think that may be the longest we’ve been apart since...well since the night we met.” She said to him after their enthusiastic reunion.

“It was awful, I had to spend time with other people, let’s never do it again.”

“I hope it wasn’t awful, it was your bachelor party.  Didn’t you enjoy it?”

“Actually I very much did, to be honest.  How was your party?”

“Pretty awkward at first.  You’re right. It’s a fertility power.  Everyone at the party was pregnant and not drinking any alcohol.”

“I have to imagine it could only get better from there.”

“It did.  At some point everyone figured out they got pregnant the same night and once things were out in the open the conversation got very...detailed.  It was entertaining and people were in a good mood. And the food was incredible. Wakandan food is always exquisite but they really outdid themselves at this party.”

“Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself.”

“Hang on, I saved you some.”  She went to their kitchen and pulled out the little box she had set aside for him.  “I’ve been resisting eating this for a day and a half while I waited for you. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“That’s a ringing endorsement.  It’s not hamburgers is it?” She laughed.  He opened the box and inhaled the smell of the rich Wakandan cuisine deeply.  “Oh, darling.” To her surprise, he, who would have eaten pizza with a knife and fork if he ate pizza, picked up one of the pieces with his fingers and ate it right away.

“I told you it was good.” She said, peering at him curiously.

“You don’t know the half of it.” He greedily picked up and ate another piece.  “We were discussing the other day some of the ties that bind Midgard to Asgard, yes?”  She nodded. “Well, you’ve read I’m sure of the offerings of food given to the ancient gods?  It is because we can taste human gratitude.” He paused for dramatic effect at first but then kept pausing to take another bite.  

“That’s why everything tasted like dessert?”  

He looked at her as he licked his fingers.  “Whoever gave this to you was exceedingly grateful for something.  Because,” his sentence was interrupted by an appreciative “mm,” “this is a really good one.”   

“I just took it off the table to put in this box.”

“Perhaps someone in the kitchen or wait staff then.”  She reached over to the box to take a bite and he playfully yanked it away.  “You said this was for me, you ate your fill.” When she pouted, he relented, although his reluctance was not entirely feigned.  He had not enjoyed human gratitude for some time. Somehow humans weren’t flocking to his door with gifts and praise for sort of helping undo some of the damage he had done under Thanos’s control.  It was really pretty rude of them.

“I’m really going to miss it here.” She sighed.

“Any thoughts on where to next?” He asked as he considered licking the lid of the box but decided he wasn’t quite that desperate.

“I don’t know.  Maybe somewhere remote while we figure out how our powers work.  How was the island where Thor held your party?”

“Miserable.  Although I think Thor did remove the crocodile he brought before we left.  We could just go to Paris, I doubt they’d even notice anything had changed.”  She laughed briefly but then gave another defeated sigh. He stroked her hair reassuringly.  “We’ll figure it out. I always do. When I realize my time is up some place, there’s always some place else.” 

He reached over and pulled her in next to him where he was seated so her head was resting on his chest.  “You could always just keep your hands off me.”

“I’d rather take my chances with the crocodile.”  

 


	18. Wakandan Sunset

The couple were enjoying their last meal in the palace at Wakanda before their trip to Norway for their wedding with the royal family, although her majesty Queen Nakia was absent.  Shuri was beaming. Partially because her first party had been a success. More because Doctors Pym and Van Dyne were blown away by her research on Dr. Strange’s phasing from realm to realm and had invited her to test some of her hypotheses in their quantum research lab in California.

“I am pleased you are going to share your research but I don’t want you flying around in one of their shrinking suits, it’s too dangerous.” T’Challa admonished her.

“You don’t tell me what to do, you’re not my mother.” 

“I am.” Ramonda chimed in.  “No suits.”

“I am a grown woman and I will shrink down microscopically and fly around California if I please.” Shuri said matter of factly.

The goddess took the opportunity to slip out of the dining hall down to the kitchen for a look around.  The kitchen staff appeared to feature primarily retirees, perhaps older Dora Milajae who needed an excuse to keep living at the palace or were trusted enough to handle the food of the royal family.  Maybe they were excited to have grandchildren? But she did not sense any major emotional change when she entered the room.

She lurked for a minute before approaching one of the women who looked authoritative, although honestly they all did.  

“I was hoping to pass along my compliments from the other night.  You outdid yourselves, the food for my party was incredible.”

“I am pleased to hear it.  I will pass along your compliments to her highness Queen Nakia,” said the old woman with a smile.

“Queen Nakia?  She wasn’t even at the party.”

“As I understand she has been a bit under the weather, but she made a point of choosing the whole menu and securing all the ingredients herself.  She said she wanted the whole party to be her gift to you.”

“Under the weather?” 

“Well,” the old woman leaned in, “I know how it sounds but I wouldn’t assume anything until there’s an announcement.  We have been waiting on an heir to the throne for a couple of years. There are whispered concerns.”

The goddess smiled.  “I’ll hope for the best then.  And pray.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Loki went looking for his bride to be after he finished his breakfast.  He thought maybe she had ventured outside to enjoy the Wakandan sun before their departure and he went out towards the training yard.

Instead he came across M’Baku, who was already fully healed from their brief skirmish thanks to the sophistication of Wakandan medicine and a formidable constitution, drilling in the training yard with a blunted spear.  Ever since the battle against Thanos in Wakanda, the Jabari tribe had been welcome in the rest of Wakanda and M’Baku was as welcome at the palace as any other chief. After that battle, the old rivalries seemed petty by comparison.  

The sight of M’Baku diligently practicing made Loki smile.  He liked a human who leapt eagerly into a losing fight. In the spirit of Ragnarok and Valhalla.  And he liked someone who got back up after he was knocked back down.

“Preparing for our rematch?” Loki called out to him.  

M’Baku looked up from his drills and smiled.  “Just who I was looking for, Loki my friend. I have good news.  It seems as though the lady M’Baku is prepared to give me one more child after all.  The Jabari tribe celebrates your visit.”

Loki laughed.  “Well, that’s good.  Hopefully we will be welcomed back some day.”

“You’re welcome in the mountain any time.  You’ve grown on me.”

“Yes, I do feel as though you and I get along, why do you think that is?” Loki admitted.

“Because,” M’Baku said, becoming serious momentarily, “if I were going to stage a palace coup, you are the first person I would ask to help.”

Loki paused.  “You’ve got me there, I love a good coup.  Why are you planning one?”

M’Baku looked gravely serious before he started laughing again.  “Not today my friend but I will keep you in mind.”

“Good.  T’Challa has been a most gracious host, I would hate to betray his hospitality so soon.”

“I have been reading about you Loki.  How much of what they have written about you is true?”

“All of it is true if you read it enough times to believe it.” 

“You have many names I think throughout the ages yes?  Have you ever spent time as a snake or a fox?”

“Many times.  I think locally your trickster is a spider?  That legend predated my visit but I’ve been known to slip into an existing story to ease my acceptance.”

“I’m not calling you Anansi.  But I had another name in mind after your last visit.” M’Baku said, grinning again.  “You know that in the Jabari tribe the gorilla is a very important animal to us and represents the gorilla god Hanuman.  Among the gorillas their king is the gorilla with the silver back.” 

Loki smiled.  “I’m listening.”

“Over the years we have had many honored as the gorilla with the silver back among our tribe.  But this time I think,” and he put his hand on Loki’s shoulder, “you are the first with a silver tongue.”

Loki laughed at the mention of one of his favorite nicknames.  “I’m honored. And I love it.”

“Good.  Then we will call you the silver tongued gorilla in our stories about you.”

“Oh?  Your people like to tell stories?” Loki asked meaningfully.

“We love to.  Why, do you know any good ones?”

Loki grinned.  “A few.” 


	19. Alone Together

Where else could they hold their wedding but the picturesque clifftop where Odin had brought his sons to bid them farewell, where they had first met their sister.  The sun shined as brightly as it had that day that Odin left them with the reflections from the water glimmering all the way to the distant horizon, highlighting the brilliant natural green of the grass.

In part by choice and in part because of who they were, there were not many guests in attendance.  The prime minister of Norway was overjoyed to perform the ceremony, believing (perhaps rightly) himself to be fulfilling a post-Ragnarok prophecy from ancient times. Shuri and Thor stood by as their witnesses.  Bruce and Brunnhilde occupied two of the four chairs that had been set out for seated guests. Bruce was happy to come to anything Thor had invited him to and Brunnhilde had been promised booze and entertainment.

The other two guests were obviously SHIELD agents who at least had the decency to bring a gift and dress nicely despite their ulterior motives.  A tall red-haired woman wore a knee length black dress, flat shoes, and a simple silver necklace. She was stunning, although she probably would have been stunning in anything. Her date wore a smart suit although he did not appear to have shaved for the occasion.  They had clearly hoped, when they wrangled their invitations, that there would be more guests so their identities would be less transparent.

SHIELD had put some thought into what kind of gift Loki would not be able to use to kill anyone and had commissioned for him a small painting of himself and his bride sitting on thrones in Asgard.  It was a high quality painting and it wasn’t the artist’s fault that the commission premise was cheesy. The artist had never been to Asgard and it showed. No one credibly pretended it was anything more than an expensive wrapping around a monitoring device of some kind.  They had to try.

But the reclusive couple were perfectly happy to be wed before only a small gathering of frenemies.  As much as Loki enjoyed showing off, his own heart was not what he liked to put on display for the world.

“When I stumbled across you those many months ago, I had no idea that you would turn out to be just the companion I needed.” He said to her.  Thor thought to himself that he was not accustomed to seeing shy smiles from his brother, at least not genuine ones. He didn’t need to throw a rock to realize that for once, Loki had decided to express himself with no illusions.

“I have always been such a loner,” she said in reply, “and I didn’t think I needed anyone else.  I think we are about to spend a good deal of time alone. But now I know that we can be alone, together.”  She smiled back.

Following a small reception for the gathered guests, Thor provided a thunderbolt send-off as they accepted their generous wedding gift from Wakanda.  Shuri had made them a small boat designed to serve as their home over the next few months or years as they learned to control their powers (and answered requests quietly made by a few heads of state who had heard rumors of the miracle in Wakanda).  Shuri teared up as she waved them off, although she may have been waving at her boat creation. Her landlocked nation didn’t have a fleet of ships and she had relished the chance to design one.

The newlyweds stood on the deck together, casually embracing for warmth against the stiff ocean breeze and basking in the joy of getting away together again.  Safely out of ear shot from their painting.

“You didn’t really give Thor the stone back did you?” she asked.

“I did.  But it doesn’t matter.” Loki smiled.

“Why doesn’t it matter, didn’t he take it to the far reaches of space?”

“Dark matter does not occupy the same physical space as matter.  Regardless of where he took it in the universe, I can retrieve it whenever I want by reaching into the dark matter streams.”

“Doesn’t that mean someone else could retrieve it too?” She asked, concerned.

He looked at her confused.  “Of course not.” She laughed at his likely deserved arrogance.

“So you could retrieve it right now like a parlor trick?” his bride inquired curiously.

“I probably shouldn’t pull a dark matter infinity stone out of thin air just to impress my new wife.  I’ll wait until I really need it.” He mused as though he was still considering it.

“How did you get the Chitauri staff back from SHIELD?” she followed up.  

“I didn’t.  I made a duplicate myself.” 

This time she really was impressed.  “I think I know you and you still manage to surprise me.”

“Oh I hope so.” He pulled her tighter and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“Can you drop anchor, I think I want to take a swim.” She pulled away from him and took off her wedding shoes.  The anchor on their boat was not a physical anchor but a magnetic one that held the boat perfectly in place as she shimmied out of her dress.

“I’ll join you in a minute,” he said as she leapt eagerly into the water, the dusk sun glowing on her bare skin.

Once he confirmed that she was happily diving up and down in the water, enjoying her Asgardian lungs that allowed her to free dive comfortably to 40 and 50 feet below in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic, he pulled Frigga’s diary from out of his pocket and examined the spine.  As promised in his vision, he found two small strands that resembled hairs. One gold and one black.

“You’ll know which is which,” he murmured, as he twisted the two hairs together and chuckled at the notion that he would be satisfied to use only one strand when there were two.  He muttered the incantation as he applied both to his temple.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We are just here for the boys,” came a deep raspy voice in hushed tones from darkness.  Loki recognized the observation point from the memory as one of his early hiding spots when he had snuck out of his room to explore the palace grounds under cover of darkness.  He had figured out how to make a door in one of the large columns and stand inside. Not a door with a hinge but a magic door that made it seem as though he was walking right through solid material.  His first one. He still remembered the day he had grown too big to fit through that door. It had forced him to go outside and make himself bigger doors to better places so he did not have to depend on bifrost to explore the galaxy.  Good times.

“But if we find Odin can’t we kill him?” came the reply of the second frost giant who was sneaking around the palace.  He was not the smart one.

“We shouldn’t try.  He would destroy us and his successor would certainly attack Jotunheim. But if we can kill the boys while they are still small then he will be left heirless again.  Remember our assignment.”

“Maybe with no heirs he will have to install the runt he stole as his new prince, if he’s still alive.”  The first giant laughed at this thought. “Probably down in the dungeons somewhere.” Loki mused that he had spent a good amount of time in that dungeon, but not until later.

“A frost giant on the throne of Asgard, just imagine,” the first giant responded incredulously.

“Enough jokes, where do the boys sleep?”

Little Loki had to think quickly.  He couldn’t let them reach the room where Thor still slept.  He would have to investigate later whether there really was a frost giant runt hidden in the dungeon because that was something he would really like to see.  

“Wait, shh.  I think they’re awake.”  The first giant put his hand in front of the second to stop him.  “This will be too easy.” He may not have been very smart either.

The frost giants saw young Thor and Loki in their pajamas, scurrying through the hall from column to column, hiding and chasing each other around the halls.  The image of little Thor tripped and fell flat on his face and began to wail as a heroic little Loki came up to comfort him, his back turned to the frost giants as he knelt next to his prone brother.  They fell for it hook, line and sinker as they crept towards the illusion.

The real little Loki was sneaking up behind them with his daggers.  “Just like you practiced with mother, only this time it’s real,” he thought to himself.  He probably should have run for help but he believed he could manage two frost giants all on his own, despite never having killed anyone before.

Just as the overconfident frost giants were about to descend on their young prey, the one who had spoken first felt a sharp pain in his side, right between his ribs.  

“It’s a trap, I’ve been hit!” he shouted, grabbing his side.  But he could not see who had stabbed him as little Loki had already disappeared.  The second one went tumbling to the floor hollering in pain and realizing that his left hamstring had been severed.  The illusion before them disappeared and was replaced with a cloud of dark gray billowing smoke. From the smoke came two small beams of light that shot right into their chests as they screamed in agony.

Confident that he had prevailed, as little Loki indulged in some victorious theatrics, the memory perspective split into two.  Apparently young Thor had been awakened by the commotion and present day Loki now saw himself from the outside. A small golden helmet with horns that resembled the helmets of the palace guard, but with more flair and less practicality, and a long billowing black cape emerged from the black smoke.  

Little Thor was aghast, shouting from across the palace.  “Loki, what are you doing?” before he saw the two frost giants on the ground, holding their chests.

“Finishing them off,” Loki proclaimed as he stood over his quarry with his tiny dagger.  It was amusing to listen to his own pre-pubescent voice squeak something he would still say in surround sound.

The one he had hamstrung looked over and saw the real Thor running towards them down a long corridor.  “The oldest, I’ve got him.” He raised his own weapon, a spiked club coated in a layer of frost, and lifted it to hurl it.

“No!” shouted baby Loki as he reached down and grabbed the giant’s arm to prevent the throw.  The frost giant raised his arm up with the tiny godling clinging to it and slammed it down into the marble of the palace floor.  With a sickening crack and a pain in his head, the Loki half of the memory faded and left only young Thor shouting “Loki, no!”

Three palace guards finally appeared and swiftly dispatched the two would-be assassins by running them through, but little Thor barely noticed as he rushed to check on his fallen brother.  

“Loki, what’s happening, why are you turning blue.  Mom!” Thor shouted. Frigga and Odin came running to see what had happened.

“I came down the hall and Loki was fighting two frost giants in the corridor and one was going to kill me and Loki stopped him.  Mother, why is he turning blue, what’s happening?” It was strange for present day Loki to see a memory through Thor’s eyes this way, looking down at his own little blue face.

“Come my son, if there are assassins about you need to be protected,” Odin said attempting to corral Thor into his chamber as Frigga crouched over the body of her adopted boy.

“Is Loki okay?” Thor kept turning back to look as Odin ushered him away.

“Loki, please wake up, it’s your mother.  Please Loki,” came Frigga’s voice as Thor was taken down the hallway.

“Father let me stay with my brother!” pleaded little Thor.

But at that point Loki’s perspective began to return to the memory with a penumbra of golden light.  He felt a wave of warmth ripple from his head down to the tips of his toes as he became aware of himself again.  As he opened his eyes he looked up and saw Frigga wiping her tears as she saw her adopted son finally ascending to godhood.

“I won didn’t I?” he asked as he woke up.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After their swim the couple sat drying off on the deck of their boat under the light of the full moon.

“We suspect that the phenomenon happens when your powers amplify mine, right?” she asked Loki who had seemed distracted all evening.

“That’s the going hypothesis,” he said only half paying attention, still wondering if he should share the memory strands with his brother.

“Well, then shouldn’t I be able to amplify your powers too?”

That got his attention.

“What do you mean?”

“If you can turn up my powers with pretty astounding effects, shouldn’t I be able to turn up yours?”  She looked at him with the big inquisitive eyes that had first captured his fancy all those months earlier.

“Intriguing,” he rubbed his chin.  “I have spent a portion of the evening trying to figure out how SHIELD rigged our painting using my abilities with spatial perception but as of yet I have been unsuccessful.”  He had been doing some fairly significant multi-tasking, in his defense.

“Maybe I can help.” 

“Our other powers we discovered entirely by accident as you may recall.  You used your emotive abilities which I amplified with my perception talents.” He stated matter of factly.

“Let’s reverse it.  You try to explore the painting and I’ll…” she trailed off.  “I guess I’ll try to help you feel the painting?”

He laughed.  “It’s less dumb than it sounds.” 

“That’s good because it sounded pretty dumb as I said it.”  She stood across from him and took both his hands. “Okay go ahead.”

“I’m already doing it.” He said.

“You are?”

“Yes, you think I set off some sort of beacon as I am surveying?  It’s called espionage.”

She focused on projecting feelings of clarity, the feeling of stepping out of a fog.  The feeling of being in the zone, like calling a three point shot knowing you will see the swoosh of the net before it happens.  The feeling of intense focus.

For a moment, he was inside the tracking device.  Not simply perceiving where it was, but in it as though he was walking around inside it.  The sensation was so compelling it startled him and he jumped back, breaking their connection.

“Honeybear?”

“That was exhilarating.” He shook his head a little bit like a dog shaking off excess water and swept his hair back as he looked over at the painting, now knowing exactly where the device was.

He walked towards her with his hands out.  “Again.”


	20. Across the Galaxy

Across the galaxy…

Floating in the blackness of space just out of reach of each other were three objects.

The first was the inert body of a great wolf.  A wolf that was thousands of years old and larger than a Clydesdale horse.  A wolf whose enormous black eyes had gone cold and blank.

The second was a slender female body clad entirely in black with unkempt shoulder length black hair that held still without gravity as its owner drifted.  Alive when she should not have been, but barely. Reaching as hard as she could for the third item as she floated helplessly towards it at a mind-numbingly slow speed.  The race of inches had endured for months.

The third was a wisp of fire that burned with no fuel and no oxygen in the vacuum of space.

At long last, after months of reaching, a thin white finger reached the edge of the impossible fire.  In an instant, she seized it and hurled it at the body of the wolf.

With the eternal flame, you are reborn.

Unlike its rider, the wolf could run through space at the speed of light.  She, rejuvenated by the flame and the return of her wolf, smiled broadly as an enormous black crown formed on her head.

“Fenris, I felt a tremor.  The rise of a new god. I think we ought to pay him a visit, don’t you?  Or her. To Midgard, Fenris. I know a shortcut.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I'm already finished with part II of what is quickly becoming an epic. Thank you SO MUCH to all of my regular readers, whoever you are. It's been really motivating to see your hits come in whenever I post a new chapter. Special thanks to those of you sending me Kudos, comments, and messages and sharing my work with your friends. It's so daunting to fire my project into the abyss and feedback of all kinds is appreciated.
> 
> If you've been reading from the beginning, good news. The first few chapters of part III are already up with no waiting! I may launch straight into the next chapters of part III or I may take a break and write a one off featuring Valkyrie, I haven't decided yet. 
> 
> I'm having a great time writing. I hope you're having as much fun reading. :)


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